The Northern Harrier (Circus hudsonius (Linnaeus 1766), Accipitridae, Aves), a Species New to Avifauna in Russia

Feathers of an unknown bird of prey were collected on the coastal plain tundra near Meinypil’gyno (62°32′ N, 177°03′ E), southeastern Chukotka on June 5, 2021. An analysis of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene and sex chromosome CHD1 gene fragments from DNA isolated from the feathers showed with full confidence that the feathers belonged to a male of the Nearctic northern harrier ( Circus hudsonius (Linnaeus 1766)), formerly considered as a subspecies of the Holarctic hen harrier ( C. cyaneus (Linnaeus 1766)). No specimens of the American harrier from the northern part of the Russian Far East are contained in the collections of the Zoological Museum of Lomonosov Moscow State University or the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The few other visual observations of harriers in Chukotka known are not properly documented for their correct species identification. The revealed vagrant American harrier documents the first record of this species in Russia in general and in Chukotka in particular.