(by Chris Martin)

Northern Harriers are listed as state-endangered in New Hampshire. Currently, there may be as few as 10 breeding pairs statewide, with nearly all of them located in Coos County. Recently, NH Fish and Game’s Nongame Wildlife Program has encouraged NH Audubon to focus on outreach to North Country natural resource agencies and private landowners to get them more directly involved in nesting and foraging habitat management for this ground-nesting raptor.

In Winter/Spring 2024, NH Audubon hosted a three-part workshop series to provide landowners and wildlife professionals with details about harrier natural history, NH inventory and monitoring efforts, and habitat management options. Each online session held was attended by 30-40 individuals: state and federal wildlife biologists, other natural resource agency personnel, conservation landowners, private land consultants, and timber company representatives. We followed up on May 9 with a field trip where we explored high-quality harrier habitat located in the Colebrook area with 15 of these same participants.

Later, on August 7 and 8, we held a two-day harrier fledgling count. A total of 12 folks (most who had attended earlier seminars) fanned out across Coos County searching for breeding harriers. We surveyed 21 suitable areas, but only managed to find 2 successful pairs and 3-4 fledglings. Over the previous 5 breeding seasons (2019-2023), similar counts held in Coos in early August found from 1-6 successful pairs and 3-15 young.

Northern Harriers require hayfields, wet meadows, and early successional shrublands, and these habitat types need manipulation every few years to prevent reverting back to forests. Additionally, open agricultural areas can be attractive targets for subdivision and, if converted into house lots, no longer give harriers what they need for nesting and foraging.

These virtual and field sessions helped those interested in harrier management make some new friends, share varying perspectives as landowners or land managers, and talk over ideas for future collaborative conservation efforts to support harriers. More networking like this could help us take steps that will be needed to retain harriers as a breeding bird in the Granite State.