Northern Harrier

The male Northern Harrier, shown here, is known as the Gray Ghost due to its coloration: light gray head, white breast, dark gray on the back. Northern Harriers hunt using their ears as well as their eyes, and to help them they’ve evolved a special circular arrangement of stiff feathers on their face that collects the sounds of rustling creatures and focuses them on the bird’s ears. These “facial discs” are rare in hawks but commonplace in owls, and if you perceive something owlish in the harrier’s face, that’s why.