The Common Buzzard

The Common Buzzard

1. The Common Buzzard is a medium-sized raptor with broad, rounded wings and a fairly short tail. Its feathers are a rich brown color, with lighter markings beneath the wing. In the United States, many members of the Buteo genus are referred to as Hawks.

2. As with  many other birds  of prey, the female buzzard is larger than the male.

3. In flight, the Buzzard  holds its wings in a shallow V-shape whilst soaring and gliding through the air, the head hardly extending in front of the wings. They sometimes spread their feathers, in a resemblance of ‘fingers’.

4. Whilst searching for prey, when not airborne, the Buzzard is often seen perching on poles and posts from where it can easily spot prey. 

5. Preferred prey for Buzzards includes small mammals, small birds and  insects, amphibians, earthworms and carrion.

6. The Common Buzzard inhabits forests and areas with scattered woodlands. It is often seen soaring over fields, hills, and along forest edges. 

7. The Common Buzzard is naturally a slow, lazy flier, and often appears like it is laboring through the air. It can often be seen soaring at great heights, riding on warm currents of air, or thermals. Sometimes this can get the bird in trouble, for a sudden gust of strong wind can sweep the bird away from its natural habitat to a new, foreign location.

8. The Common Buzzard is often labeled as a threat to game and livestock, but is actually quite harmless.

9. The Buzzard will meow, quite a lot like a cat, so if you think it’s a cat you hear, listen harder 
because there may be a bird of prey close by. 

10. Buzzard pairs mate for life. To first attract a mate, or to impress his current one, the male will perform a ‘roller coaster’. He will rise high up in the sky, to turn and plummet downward, in a spiral, twisting and turning as he comes down. He then rises again quickly through the air and repeats it all over again. 

11. Buzzards tend to eat small mammals and birds. Sometimes, if it hasn’t had a meal for a while, the buzzard will eat the odd earthworm or large insect.

12. It’s not just live prey that Buzzards will eat, they’ll also feed on carrion, or a dead animal carcass-which some-times means it’ll unfairly be blamed for killing the animal in the first place. 

13. They are fiercely territorial and, though rare, fights do break out if one strays onto another pair’s territory. In order to ward off the trespasser, they will display acts of aggression to show the other Buzzard whose boss.

14. Buzzard’s can also be found in the rest of Europe and Asia.

15. Buzzards normally fly alone-but if a few are ever spotted, it’ll be because they’re migrating or there’s lots of food around.