Living with Birds provides 21 interesting facts about buzzards. The common buzzard is a beautiful bird of prey that lives in a variety of habitats throughout Europe, Asia, and Africa. These incredible raptors are part of the Accipitridae family, which includes buzzards, eagles, hawks, kites, harriers, and vultures. However, here’s a list of interesting buzzard facts from Living with Birds. Living with Birds provides interesting facts about buzzards.
The common buzzard’s adaptability, hunting skills, and impressive physical attributes have all contributed to its success as one of the most widespread and abundant birds of prey in its range. As we continue to learn more about these fascinating raptors, their story serves as a testament to the wonders of the natural world.
Unique Facts About the Common Buzzard Birds
- The common buzzard is the most common bird of prey in Europe.
- They are ‘partially migrant’, meaning some populations migrate while others remain in the same area year-round.
- Common buzzards have highly variable plumage, ranging from dark brown to pale variations.
- The common buzzard’s call is sometimes mistaken for the sound of a cat due to its mournful, mewing quality.
- While typically solitary, common buzzards will sometimes team up and hunt in small groups, especially outside of the breeding season.
- When food is scarce, common buzzards will supplement their diet by eating insects and other invertebrates.
- Common buzzards use impressive aerial displays, including acrobatic maneuvers, to attract mates during the breeding season.
- They are monogamous birds, mating for life and defending their breeding territories aggressively.
- Common buzzards can help control populations of rodents and pigeons, making them beneficial to human interests.
- These birds of prey are capable of hunting and eating poisonous snakes.
- In America, the term “buzzard” is often used to refer to vultures, rather than the common buzzard.
- Common buzzards are sometimes mistaken for eagles due to their large size and broad wings.
- After facing significant declines in the past, common buzzards have made an incredible comeback in the UK, becoming the most abundant bird of prey in the country.
- Contrary to a common misconception, buzzards are a type of hawk, not a separate species.
what is a buzzard bird?
Buzzards are medium-to-large birds of prey from the Accipitridae family. They are recognized for their large, rounded wings and soaring flight. Buzzards are the most frequent diurnal raptors in Europe, Asia, and some areas of Africa.
Appearance and Size buzzards
The buzzard is now the most widespread bird of prey in the United Kingdom. It is quite a large bird, with broad, rounded wings and a short neck and tail. When gliding and soaring, the Buzzard often holds its wings in a shallow ‘V’ shape, and its tail is fanned out. The plumage of Buzzards can vary significantly in color, ranging from an all-dark brown to much paler variations. However, all buzzards have distinctive dark wingtips and a finely-striped tail. Their mournful, mewing call is sometimes mistaken for the sound of a cat.
Comparison to a Cat’s Call
The Buzzard’s mournful call is often confused with the meowing of a cat. This is likely due to the similar, drawn-out quality of the two sounds. Both the Buzzard’s call and a cat’s meow can be described as a plaintive, mewing vocalization that may sound surprisingly similar to the untrained ear.
Buzzard Habitat
Buzzards may be found across the UK and can live in a variety of settings, including forests, farms, and moorland. They may even be found in metropolitan settings with enough green space. Buzzards often mate for life.
Where are buzzards found?
The most well-known species is the common buzzard (Buteo buteo), which ranges from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean. Other species live over most of North America, Eurasia, and northern Africa.
Buzzard Behavior and Lifestyle
The Common buzzard seems sleepy as it remains calmly perched for long periods, yet it is a highly active bird that flies back and forth across fields and woodlands. It typically lives alone, but when migrating, it may form flocks of up to 20, exploiting thermals to glide large distances with minimal effort.
Hunting and Feeding
The bird has excellent vision, and as it moves, it studies the ground underneath for prey. Rabbits are its preferred prey, and when it spots one, it swoops down fast and expertly, seizing and killing the animal with its sharp, powerful talons. It utilizes its hooked, sharp beak to tear flesh off the victim.
Buzzards typically eat tiny rodents such as voles, mice, and shrews. Rabbits are also a valuable food resource. Buzzards will eat tiny to medium-sized birds, including songbirds, pigeons, and juvenile game birds. Reptiles and Amphibians: Buzzards eat lizards, snakes, frogs, and toads. Invertebrates: Buzzards will hunt insects, worms, and other invertebrates when other food sources are limited. Carrion: Buzzards are excellent scavengers and will eat dead animals.
what do buzzards not eat?
Buzzards, being all-around hunters, consume and avoid anything too big, too quick, or too difficult to track down. Most of their food consists of smaller animals, birds, and carrion fit for their hunting ability.
What are buzzards known for?
These beautiful birds effortlessly float with the wind, and unexpected changes in height and direction seem second nature to them. They are entertaining to observe in midair. Buzzards are also known to clear up road kill and animal corpses.
Buzzards: Breeding and Nesting
When is breeding season for buzzards? Buzzards are often monogamous, with couples actively guarding their territory. Buzzards create big stick nests high up in the forks of tall trees, often reusing and expanding the same nest year after year.
Egg Laying: Females deposit 2-3 eggs in early spring and incubate them for around 34 days. Parental Care: Both parents care for the chicks, which fledge between 44 and 52 days old but remain reliant on their parents for many weeks.
Buzzard Behavior and Adaptations
Soaring and Gliding: Buzzards are superb soarers who use thermals and updrafts to glide over vast distances. Territorial Defense: Buzzards zealously protect their breeding grounds, repelling intruders with flying displays.
Outside of the mating season, buzzards may roost in huge flocks, particularly during migration. Buzzards have successfully adapted to human-modified settings, breeding in urban parks and feeding in agricultural regions.
How Buzzards Defend Their Territory
Buzzards are highly territorial birds and will aggressively defend their breeding grounds from intruders:
Buzzards use a mix of verbal, visual, and physical displays to vigorously defend their mating territory against rivals. This territorial behavior is critical for maintaining access to resources including nesting places and hunting areas.
buzzard lifespan
Buzzards are relatively long-lived birds of prey, with typical lifespans of 12-25 years in the wild and up to 30 years in captivity. Their excellent adult survival rates and adaptability let them live a lengthy life.
Buzzard mate for life
Buzzards usually mate for life, and a couple will aggressively protect their territory against any invaders. In early spring, male buzzards perform acrobatic aerial displays to entice females.
is a buzzard a hawk?
Common buzzards belong to the genus Buteo, which includes medium-sized raptors with powerful bodies and large wings. Whereas those in the Americas are termed hawks, the Buteo species of Eurasia and Africa are often referred to as “buzzards.”
What’s The Difference Between Vultures And Buzzards?
When discussing birds of prey, it is essential to distinguish between vultures and buzzards. Vultures are divided into two groups: the New World vultures, which belong to the Cathartidae family, and the Old World vultures, which belong to the Accipitridae family. These vultures are primarily scavengers, feeding on carrion.
The Rise of the Buzzard in the UK
Buzzards are now the most frequent bird of prey in the United Kingdom, although this was not always the case. Previously, buzzards faced tremendous dangers, causing their numbers to drop substantially throughout the nation.
Persecution by gamekeepers contributed significantly to buzzards’ historic decrease in the United Kingdom. Buzzards were seen as a menace to game birds and were often hunted or pushed out of their habitats. Furthermore, the use of pesticides in the mid-twentieth century had a terrible effect on buzzard populations, causing them to vanish from much of the nation. These beautiful birds of prey are now a regular sight in the skies across the nation, proving their perseverance and adaptability.
Fact Sources & References
(1999), “buzzard”, Britannica.Ash (2023), “Common Buzzard (Buteo Buteo)”, Glenlivet Wildlife.Jakub Gryz (2019), “The Common Buzzard Buteo buteo Population in a Changing Environment, Central Poland as a Case Study”, MDPI.“Buzzard”, RSPB.“Eurasian Buzzard Buteo buteo”, Bird Life International.Vidar Selas (2001), “Predation on reptiles and birds by the Common Buzzard, Buteo buteo, in relation to changes in its main prey, voles”, Research Gate.
