Physical machine systems are represented in the form of differential equations. These differential equations may be of the higher order and difficult to analyses. Therefore, it is necessary to convert the higher-order to lower order which replicates approximately similar properties of the higher-order system (HOS). This article presents a novel approach to reducing the higher-order model. The approach is based on the hunting demeanor of the hawk and escaping of the prey. The proposed method unifies the Harris hawk algorithm and the moment matching technique. The method is applied on single input single output (SISO), multi-input multi-output (MIMO) linear time–invariant (LTI) systems. The proposed method is justified by examining the result. The results are compared using the step response characteristics and response error indices. The response indices are integral square error, integral absolute error, integral time absolute error. The step response characteristics such as rise time, peak, peak time, settling time of the proposed reduced order follows 97%–100% of the original system characteristics.