EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week

The Hawk of Ash

Cinereous Harrier (Circus cinereus), Family Accipitridae
El Calafate, Argentina

Explanation:  It is mid-spring in the southern hemisphere, and on a chilly early morning, my wife and colleagues and I are enjoying an exploration of the wonderful Reserva Natural Laguna Nimez in the town of El Calafate along the Andean glacial lake of Lago Argentino in southern Argentina.

Winging overhead is this wonderful raptor, the Cinereous Harrier, searching for avian or mammalian prey along the shores of this nature reserve lagoon.  

Ranging through much of southern South America,
Cinereous Harriers are common to wetlands, grasslands, 
pastures, and coastal marshes.

Typical lagoon and marsh habitat of the species, here showing
the white rump characteristic of this and other members of the harrier clan.

Oh, and why did I title this EPOW episode "The Hawk of Ash?"
It is because the name "cinereous" refers to the Latin for ash-colored, as
nicely illustrated in the above photo of the adult male.  

And from "cinereous" (ash) we also get the Medieval Latin incineratus, or incinerate, "reduce to ashes."  

Now you know.