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The Black Harrier (Circus maurus) is a bird found in South Africa, Botswana and Namibia. Found in South Africa, Botswana and Namibia. It eats small mammals and birds, insects and other small invertebrates and reptiles and frogs. The IUCN Red List lists it as Endangered.

🏡 Where the Black Harrier lives

Found in South Africa, Botswana and Namibia.

🍽️ What it eats

• 🐭 Mammals & birds80%
• 🐛 Insects & bugs10%
• 🦎 Reptiles & frogs10%

A rough guide to its diet over a year. Source: EltonTraits (Wilman et al. 2014).

Conservation status

Hear the Black Harrier

Recorded by Murray Christian (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0), xeno-canto XC723680. Trimmed to a few seconds.

Questions about the Black Harrier

Where does the Black Harrier live?

The Black Harrier lives in South Africa, Botswana and Namibia. Found in South Africa, Botswana and Namibia.

What does the Black Harrier eat?

small mammals and birds (about 80%), insects and other small invertebrates (about 10%), reptiles and frogs (about 10%). These are rough shares of its diet over a year, from the EltonTraits database.

Is the Black Harrier endangered?

Very few are left in the wild. Its IUCN Red List category is Endangered.

More birds from Africa

• Pied crow
• Blacksmith lapwing
• Southern masked weaver
• Southern boubou
• Black-backed puffback
• Pin-tailed whydah

Sources: IUCN Red List (via Wikidata), EltonTraits 1.0 (Wilman et al. 2014), GBIF sightings for countries, Wikipedia. Last updated 2026-10-19.