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Common Buzzard

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iCommon Buzzard

Image:Poster Buteo buteo.jpg

Conservation status

Image:Status iucn3.1 LC.svg
Least Concern (LC)

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Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Falconiformes
Family:	Accipitridae
Genus:	Buteo
Species:	B. buteo

Binomial name

Buteo buteo
(Linnaeus, 1758)

Image:Buteo buteo dis.PNG

Dark green: All-year distribution
Light green/blue: Breeding/winter range of Steppe Buzzard.

Subspecies

7-10, see text

The Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo) is a bird of prey from the Old World. It is typically between 51-57 cm in length with a 110 to 130 cm wingspan, making it a medium-sized raptor. Its range covers most of Europe and extends into Asia. It is usually resident all year except in the coldest parts of its range, and in the case of one subspecies.

It breeds in woodland, but usually hunts over open land. It eats mainly small mammals, and will come to carrion.

Buzzards do not normally form flocks, but several may be seen together on migration or in good habitat. The Victorian writer on Dartmoor, William Crossing, noted that he had on occasions seen flocks of 15 or more at some places.

This broad-winged raptor has a wide variety of plumages, and in Europe can be confused with the similar Rough-legged Buzzard (Buteo lagopus) and the only distantly related Honey Buzzard (Pernis apivorus), which mimics the Common Buzzard's plumage for a degree of protection from Goshawks.

The call is a plaintive peea-ay, similar to a cat's meow.

[edit] Systematics

Buzzard subspecies fall into two groups

The western buteo group are mainly resident or short-distance migrants. They are:

Buteo buteo buteo: most of Europe
B. b. rothschildi: Azores
B. b. insularum: Canary Islands
B. b. arrigonii: Corsica and Sardinia
B. b. menetriesi: Caucasus
B. b. harterti: Madeira, doubtfully distinct from nominate buteo

The eastern vulpinus group includes

B. b. vulpinus (Steppe Buzzard): Eurasia ; a long-distance migrant except some N Himalayan birds
B. b. japonicus: Japan; resident

Two resident forms of islands close to Africa are often assigned to the first group, but appear to be distinct species more closely related to the African Long-legged Buzzard, based on biogeography and preliminary mtDNA cytochrome b sequence data (Clouet & Wink 2000):

Buteo (buteo) bannermani (Cape Verde Buzzard): Cape Verde Islands
Buteo (buteo) socotrae (Socotra Buzzard): Socotra

[edit] References

BirdLife International (2004). Buteo buteo. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern

Clouet, Michel & Wink, Michael (2000): The Buzzards of Cape Verde (Buteo (buteo) bannermani) and Socotra (Buteo buteo spp.) - First results of a genetic analysis based on nucleotide sequences of the cytochrome b gene. Alauda 68(1): 55-58. PDF fultlext