Editing Northern harrier (section)

==Taxonomy==
In 1750 the English naturalist [[George Edwards (naturalist)|George Edwards]] included an illustration and a description of the northern harrier in the third volume of his ''A Natural History of Uncommon Birds''. He used the English name "The Ring-tail'd Hawk". Edwards based his hand-coloured etching on a bird collected near the [[Hudson Bay]] in Canada and brought to London by [[James Isham]].<ref>{{ cite book | last=Edwards | first=George | author-link=George Edwards (naturalist) | year=1750 | title=A Natural History of Uncommon Birds | location=London | publisher=Printed for the author at the College of Physicians | volume=3 | page=107, Plate 107 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/50196265 }}</ref> When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist [[Carl Linnaeus]] updated his ''[[Systema Naturae]]'' for the [[12th edition of Systema Naturae|twelfth edition]], he placed the northern harrier with the falcons and eagles in the [[genus]] ''[[Falco (bird)|Falco]]''. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the [[binomial name]] ''Falco hudsonius'' and cited Edwards' work.<ref>{{cite book | last=Linnaeus | first=Carl | author-link=Carl Linnaeus | year=1766 | title=Systema naturae : per regna tria natura, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis | edition=12th | volume=1, Part 1 | publisher=Laurentii Salvii  | location=Holmiae (Stockholm) | language=Latin | page=128 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/445253}}</ref> The northern harrier is now placed in the genus ''[[Harrier (bird)|Circus]]'', introduced by the French naturalist [[Bernard Germain de Lacépède]] in 1799.<ref>{{ cite book | last=Lacépède | first=Bernard Germain de | author-link=Bernard Germain de Lacépède | year=1799 | title=Discours d'ouverture et de clôture du cours d'histoire naturelle | chapter=Tableau des sous-classes, divisions, sous-division, ordres et genres des oiseux | language=fr | publisher=Plassan | place=Paris | page=4 | chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6uhAAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA78 }} Page numbering starts at one for each of the three sections.<!--BHL appears not to have a scan--></ref><ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela Rasmussen | date=January 2022 | title=Hoatzin, New World vultures, Secretarybird, raptors | work=IOC World Bird List Version 12.1  | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/raptors/| publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=9 June 2022 }}</ref> The genus name ''Circus'' is derived from the [[Ancient Greek]] ''kirkos'', referring to a bird of prey named for its circling flight (''kirkos'', "circle"). The specific epithet ''hudsonius'' is from "Hudson Bay", the [[type locality (biology)|type locality]].<ref>{{cite book | last=Jobling | first=James A. | year=2010| title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 | page=[https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n109/mode/1up 109], [https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n195/mode/1up 195]  }}</ref> The species is [[monotypic]]: no [[subspecies]] are recognised.<ref name=ioc/>

The northern harrier was formerly considered to be [[conspecific]] with the [[hen harrier]].<ref name=ioc/><ref>{{Cite journal | last1=Etherington | first1=Graham J. | last2=Mobley | first2=Jason A. | date=2016 | title=Molecular phylogeny, morphology and life-history comparisons within Circus cyaneus reveal the presence of two distinct evolutionary lineages | journal=Avian Research | volume=7 | issue=1 | pages=17 | doi=10.1186/s40657-016-0052-3 | doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal| last1=Chesser | first1=R. Terry  | last2=Burns | first2=Kevin J. | last3=Cicero | first3=Carla | last4=Dunn | first4=John L.  | last5=Kratter | first5=Andrew W | last6=Lovette | first6=Irby J | last7=Rasmussen | first7=Pamela C. | last8=Remsen | first8=J.V. Jr | last9=Rising  | first9=James D. | last10=Stotz | first10=Douglas F. | last11=Winker  | first11=Kevin | year=2017 | title=Fifty-eighth supplement to the American Ornithological Society's ''Check-list of North American Birds'' |journal=The Auk |volume=134 | issue=3 |pages=751–773 |doi=10.1642/AUK-17-72.1 | doi-access=free }}</ref>