Where does swamp Harrier usually live?
Where does swamp Harrier usually live?
The swamp harrier is widespread through Australasia and many islands in the south-west Pacific region, including much of Australia (except the arid region), New Zealand (where it is common in open country), Fiji, Vanuatu, New Caledonia and as stragglers on some subantarctic islands. It is usually found in wetlands and well-watered open country. The harrier only became established in New Zealand within the last few hundred years, after lowland forests were extensively cleared by the first Polynesian settlers; it is absent from the fossil record. It has benefited from European settlement, and is now very common, especially in open farmland.