NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Cinereous Harrier
Circus cinereus Vieillot, 1816
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Cinereous harrier (Circus cinereus) male, Leona Amarga, Torres del Paine, Chile
Charles J. Sharp · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The cinereous harrier (Circus cinereus) is a South American bird of prey of the harrier family. Its breeding range extends from the Tierra del Fuego through Argentina and Chile to Bolivia, Paraguay, Peru and southern Brazil; and across the Andes north to Colombia. The bird's population is declining but due to its large range is not considered vulnerable. The term cinereous, deriving from the Latin word for ashy, describes its colouration.
Wikipedia contributors, Cinereous harrier; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T06:19:05.668949+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Circus cinereus Vieillot, 1816
- Name authority
- Vieillot, 1816
- Common name
- Cinereous Harrier
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Accipitriformes
- Family
- Accipitridae
- Genus
- Circus
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderAccipitriformes
- familyAccipitridae Vigors, 1824
- genusCircus Lacépède, 1799
- speciesCircus cinereus Vieillot, 1816
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Circus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Western Marsh HarrierCircus aeruginosus (Linnaeus, 1758) | AccipitridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Northern HarrierCircus hudsonius (Linnaeus, 1766) | AccipitridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Swamp HarrierCircus approximans Peale, 1849 | AccipitridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Long-winged HarrierCircus buffoni (J. F. Gmelin, 1788) | AccipitridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Pallid HarrierCircus macrourus (S. G. Gmelin, 1770) | AccipitridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Malagasy Marsh HarrierCircus maillardi J. Verreaux, 1862 | AccipitridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Pied HarrierCircus melanoleucos (Pennant, 1769) | AccipitridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Montagu's HarrierCircus pygargus (Linnaeus, 1758) | AccipitridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| African Marsh HarrierCircus ranivorus (Daudin, 1800) | AccipitridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Papuan HarrierCircus spilothorax Salvadori & D'Albertis, 1875 | AccipitridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- Vieillot, & Louis Pierre. (1816). Busard. Nouveau Dictionnaire d’Histoire Naturelle, Appliquée Aux Arts, À l’Agriculture, À l’Économie Rurale et Domestique, À La Médecine, Etc. Par Une Société de Naturalisted et d’Agriculteurs Nouvelle Édition, Vol. 4. Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:VG7Y. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.