Spotted Harrier
Photo © pimelea
Photo © pimelea — CC BY 4.0 — Source: iNaturalist #229166659The spotted harrier (Circus assimilis) also known as the smoke hawk, is a large Australasian bird of prey belonging to the family Accipitridae. == Taxonomy == The spotted harrier belongs to the family Accipitridae. Accipitridae is the largest family in the order Accipitriformes and encompasses many of the diurnal birds of prey including hawks and eagles. It is one of the largest avian families with 233 species in 67 genera included in the family worldwide. == Description == The spotted harrier is a medium-sized, slender bird of prey with adult females reaching 58–61 cm. Both adults and juvenile birds have an owl-like facial ruff that creates the appearance of a short, broad head as well as long yellow legs. The spotted harrier's wings feature prominent black tips and the tail is prominently barred and slightly wedge shaped. Adult males are much smaller than the females only growing to 50–55 cm. Adult birds have blue to grey upper parts with a chestnut face and underparts that feature numerous white spots. Juvenile birds in their first year of life are mostly a dark brown and buff on their upperparts with pale buff underparts that feature brown streaks across the chest and stomach.…
Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park
Petermann, Australia
+146 birds+10 mammals
Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park is one of Australia’s most iconic protected areas, renowned for its breathtaking desert landscapes, extraordinary geological formations, and deep cultural significance. Located…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKKroombit Tops National Park
Valentine Plains, Australia
+152 birds+6 mammals
Where eucalypt woodlands rise into sandstone plateaus, Kroombit Tops unfolds across nearly 906 square kilometres of northeastern Queensland's most biodiverse terrain. The park's defining feature is…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKCarnarvon National Park
Philadelphia, Australia
+179 birds+17 mammals
Across 15,000 square kilometres of inland Queensland, rugged sandstone plateaus rise above eucalypt woodlands and open grasslands, carved by creeks that have worn deep gorges into…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKMount Coolum National Park
Sunshine Coast, Australia
+124 birds+3 mammals
Rising abruptly from the hinterland plateau of Queensland's Sunshine Coast, Mount Coolum commands attention as a distinctive volcanic remnant clothed in open eucalypt woodland and heathland…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKHerberton Range National Park
Australia
+115 birds+10 mammals
Rainforest-clad ridges and rocky outcrops define this 324-square-kilometre reserve in far north Queensland, where the mountainous terrain of the Herberton Range rises through layered eucalypt woodland…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKKakadu National Park
Kakadu, Australia
+273 birds+46 mammals
Kakadu National Park is Australia’s largest national park and one of the world’s most remarkable protected areas, covering nearly 20,000 square kilometres in the tropical north…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKDaintree National Park
Dedin, Australia
+362 birds+37 mammals
Daintree National Park is one of the world’s oldest and most biologically diverse tropical rainforests, protecting an extraordinary landscape where ancient forests meet the Great Barrier…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKChiltern-Mt Pilot National Park
Australia
+229 birds+12 mammals
Granite ridges and eucalyptus woodlands define this 869-square-kilometre park straddling the border between Victoria and New South Wales, where rugged terrain rises sharply from gentler foothill…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKIkara-Flinders Ranges National Park
Australia
+149 birds+10 mammals
Where ancient quartzite ridges rise across the semi-arid heart of South Australia, Ikara-Flinders Ranges National Park unfolds across nearly two thousand square kilometres of one of…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKBudj Bim National Park
Australia
+137 birds+7 mammals
Across southwestern Victoria's volcanic plains, Budj Bim National Park preserves a landscape shaped by ancient lava flows and Indigenous land stewardship spanning millennia. The park's 184…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKRoyal National Park
Sydney, Australia
+296 birds+46 mammals
Where sandstone ridges plunge toward the Tasman Sea, Royal National Park unfolds across 343 square kilometres of southeastern Australian coastal wilderness. The park's defining character emerges…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKLittle Desert National Park
Australia
+200 birds+11 mammals
Across northwestern Victoria's semi-arid interior, sandstone ridges and heathland plateaus rise from red earth in a landscape sculpted by fire and drought rather than water. Little…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKLincoln National Park
Australia
+149 birds+5 mammals
Across the mid-north of South Australia, where the landscape transitions from coastal lowlands toward semi-arid interior plains, sprawls a wilderness of 2,671 square kilometres where red-earth…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKCoffin Bay National Park
Australia
+143 birds+5 mammals
Across South Australia's Eyre Peninsula, where limestone headlands rise above turquoise shallows and eucalypt woodland gives way to coastal heath, lies a 1,319-square-kilometre sanctuary shaped by…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKVulkathunha-Gammon Ranges National Park
Australia
+97 birds+8 mammals
Granite ridges and quartzite peaks rise abruptly from the red earth of South Australia's mid-north, their steep slopes carved into gorges where seasonal waterfalls cascade through…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKInnes National Park
Barcelona, Australia
+141 birds+10 mammals
Granite ridges and weathered stone outcrops rise across South Australia's Fleurieu Peninsula, defining a landscape where ancient rock formations meet open eucalypt woodland and heathland scrub.…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKGheebulum Kunungai National Park
Moreton Island, Australia
+168 birds+7 mammals
Sand dunes rise and fall across Moreton Island's eastern shore, a landscape sculpted by wind and ocean currents into one of Australia's most dynamic coastal ecosystems.…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKRinyirru National Park
Lakefield, Australia
+258 birds+7 mammals
Where the savanna grasslands of far north Queensland meet seasonal wetlands and eucalypt woodlands, Rinyirru National Park sprawls across more than 12,500 square kilometres of rugged,…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKGirraween National Park
Australia
+193 birds+21 mammals
Granite boulders rise like the bones of the earth across these 278 square kilometres of southeastern Queensland, where the Great Dividing Range descends towards the coastal…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKMorton National Park
Australia
+253 birds+57 mammals
Across nearly 4,800 square kilometers of New South Wales's Southern Tablelands, rugged sandstone plateaus rise above sheltered valleys where cool-climate eucalypt woodland meets grassy heath and…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKGlass House Mountains National Park
Australia
+151 birds+8 mammals
Conical peaks of volcanic origin rise dramatically from the coastal lowlands of southeastern Queensland, their weathered slopes cloaked in eucalyptus woodland and open sclerophyll forest that…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKBribie Island National Park
Brisbane, Australia
+284 birds+20 mammals
Across tidal flats and shallow waterways north of Brisbane, Bribie Island National Park spreads across nearly four hundred square kilometres of subtropical coastal wilderness—a patchwork of…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKWilsons Promontory National Park
Australia
+210 birds+21 mammals
Where granite headlands plunge toward Bass Strait, Wilson's Promontory National Park sprawls across nearly 1,300 square kilometers of southeastern Victoria's most rugged coastal wilderness. The park's…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKFitzgerald River National Park
Fitzgerald River National Park, Australia
+209 birds+11 mammals
Where granite peaks rise above windswept heathlands and pristine river systems carve through untamed wilderness, one of Australia's most biodiverse landscapes unfolds across the southwestern corner…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKBogani Nani Wartabone National Park
Bolaang Mongondow, Indonesia
+154 birds+4 mammals
Across North Sulawesi's rugged interior, where tectonic uplift has carved steep ridges and deep valleys through ancient volcanic terrain, Bogani Nani Wartabone National Park sprawls across…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKLore Lindu National Park
Indonesia
+177 birds+4 mammals
Across the mountainous spine of Central Sulawesi spreads a wilderness of montane forest, rolling ridges, and deep valleys that rises from the island's volcanic bedrock to…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKLitchfield National Park
Australia
+175 birds+15 mammals
Where weathered sandstone plateaus rise above the savanna woodlands of Australia's Top End, Litchfield National Park unfolds as a landscape of dramatic contrasts shaped by a…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKNitmiluk National Park
Australia
+186 birds+27 mammals
Dramatic sandstone gorges carved by the Katherine River slice through the tropical savanna of Australia's Top End, creating a landscape where escarpments tower above crystalline pools…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKGreat Sandy National Park
Australia
+306 birds+40 mammals
Where coastal dunes rise inland from the Queensland coastline, Great Sandy National Park encompasses a landscape of remarkable ecological diversity shaped by subtropical humid conditions year-round.…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKGirringun National Park
Australia
+231 birds+10 mammals
Where granite gorges cleave through subtropical woodland in North Queensland, Girringun National Park unfolds across rugged terrain shaped by millions of years of weathering and erosion.…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKWooroonooran National Park
Australia
+240 birds+28 mammals
Where the Great Dividing Range rises sharply inland from Queensland's tropical coast, Wooroonooran National Park encompasses a landscape of steep, forested gorges and cascading waterways carved…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKNoosa National Park
Marcus Beach, Australia
+216 birds+8 mammals
Subtropical eucalypt woodland and open forest meet coastal heathland along the Noosa Peninsula, where the temperate waters of the Tasman current moderate the Queensland climate into…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKBoodjamulla National Park
Australia
+142 birds+3 mammals
Where red sandstone gorges carve through the semi-arid interior of far north Queensland, Boodjamulla National Park reveals a landscape shaped by seasonal water availability and ancient…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKBlue Mountains National Park
Australia
+220 birds+43 mammals
Dramatic sandstone cliffs rise in tiers across this mountainous plateau west of Sydney, their rust-coloured faces weathered into amphitheatres and gorges where eucalyptus forest clings to…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKKosciuszko National Park
Australia
+211 birds+52 mammals
Where the Great Dividing Range reaches its highest peaks in southeastern Australia, Kosciuszko National Park encompasses a landscape of windswept plateaus, rocky ridges, and deep river…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKDorrigo National Park
Gleniffer, Australia
+172 birds+17 mammals
Where subtropical rainforest transitions into cool temperate woodland, Dorrigo National Park rises across the volcanic tablelands of far northern New South Wales, cloaked in the perpetually…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKMungo National Park
Australia
+135 birds+7 mammals
Across the semi-arid inland plains of New South Wales, where sparse shrubland and scattered grassland stretch beneath enormous skies, lies a landscape shaped by ancient geological…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKWarrumbungle National Park
Coonabarabran, Australia
+183 birds+22 mammals
Volcanic peaks and weathered ridges rise abruptly from the inland tablelands of central New South Wales, their exposed rock faces glowing ochre and rust in the…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKOxley Wild Rivers National Park
Australia
+202 birds+45 mammals
Where the New England Tablelands descend toward the coast, river gorges carve through temperate forests in a landscape of dramatic geological contrast. Oxley Wild Rivers National…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKBen Boyd National Park
Eden, Australia
+255 birds+47 mammals
Where the temperate forests of the far south coast meet towering sea cliffs, Ben Boyd National Park unveils one of New South Wales' most dramatic coastal…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKGrampians National Park
Australia
+214 birds+18 mammals
Where sandstone ridges rise above the Western District of Victoria, Grampians National Park unfolds across rolling terrain sculpted by ancient geology and sustained by a temperate…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKGreat Otway National Park
Australia
+255 birds+42 mammals
Temperate rainforest and wet eucalyptus woodland cloak the ridges and gullies of Victoria's Great Otway National Park, where persistent moisture and mild year-round temperatures sustain a…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKMurray-Sunset National Park
Australia
+205 birds+2 mammals
Across the semi-arid borderlands of northwestern Victoria, where the Murray River defines the state's edge, sprawls a landscape of remarkable resilience and subtle beauty. Murray-Sunset National…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKPort Campbell National Park
Port Campbell, Australia
+170 birds+7 mammals
Dramatic sea cliffs rise from churning waters along Victoria's southwestern coast, where sandstone and limestone formations tower over a hundred metres above the Southern Ocean. Port…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKCoorong National Park
Australia
+217 birds+15 mammals
Where the Murray River meets the Southern Ocean, a chain of shallow lagoons stretches across the South Australian coast, separated from the sea by a ribbon…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKKalbarri National Park
Australia
+157 birds+6 mammals
Where ochre cliffs and weathered gorges slice through Western Australia's semi-arid interior, Kalbarri National Park reveals a landscape shaped by millions of years of erosion and…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKKarijini National Park
Australia
+117 birds+5 mammals
Ochre ridges and rust-coloured gorges slice through the Pilbara's ancient landscape, where Karijini National Park sprawls across a wilderness of iron-rich plateaus and plunging ravines carved…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKNambung National Park
Grey, Australia
+124 birds+2 mammals
Where limestone pinnacles rise like sharpened teeth from golden sand, Nambung National Park unveils one of Western Australia's most distinctive landscapes. The Pinnacles Desert, the park's…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKCape Range National Park
Australia
+159 birds+15 mammals
Where arid limestone ridges plunge toward turquoise waters, Cape Range National Park frames one of Australia's most dramatic desert-ocean interfaces. The park's spine—a stark, weathered range…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKPurnululu National Park
Australia
+114 birds
Towering sandstone domes and dramatic gorges carved by seasonal watercourses define this remote corner of the Kimberley, where ancient rock formations create a maze of narrow…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKStirling Range National Park
Australia
+149 birds+7 mammals
Where ancient quartzite ranges rise abruptly from the southwestern Australian plateau, Stirling Range National Park unfolds as a realm of dramatic escarpments, deep valleys, and surprising…
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