Common Buzzard - description, habitat

Common Buzzard is one of the most famous and widespread feathered predators on the planet, related to day birds. Also, many people know this bird under the name Buzzard. Most often, the buzzard chooses a nesting place in Asia and Europe.

Natural habitat

Note that the population of such birds of prey, leading a daily lifestyle, like Buzzard, can conditionally be divided into two parts - nomads and sedentary birds. For the nesting of these predators, the territory of Europe is more preferable (the exception in this case is the polar regions). In Asia, this bird can be found in the temperate zone. In anticipation of colds, birds, the main localization of which are Asian countries, migrate to the south.

Bird hunting grounds are not only an open area (fields / meadows), but also quite dense forests. As a rule, in this case, the buzzard selects tall trees with a powerful and dense crown for nesting.

Bird guard

In some European countries, the buzzard is a species of bird protected by law. Nevertheless, not so long ago a buzzard fired back, as it was believed that this bird of prey is a natural fighter for game. In fact, this statement is partially true, as the buzzard attacks sick, weakened or wounded animals. In fact, the common buzzard acts as a voluntary orderly in the forest, which helps maintain the health of entire populations of a wide variety of animals and birds (rabbits, hares, pheasants, and others). Buzzard also brings considerable benefits to the agricultural sector through the effective destruction of harmful rodents that spoil crops and crops.

Buzzard lifestyle

A buzzard uses several methods for hunting. Most often, a buzzard, in order to look out for its prey, sits on some elevation and views the surrounding area. Noticing the prey, the bird abruptly breaks off in order to grab the victim with sharp claws.

Another way of hunting this bird of prey involves hours of soaring in the air. Having outlined his victim, the buzzard quickly flies up to her in order to grab.

Mostly this bird of prey, whose weight reaches 0.8-1.2 kg, in the daytime preys on such wildlife as small mammals - rats, field mice. Wounded hares, young birds, snakes and lizards often become prey of buzzard.

Buzzard structure features

The head of the bird is rather large and slightly flattened. Due to the sufficient width of the wings, the buzzard can soar for many hours in the air, which helps him to spot the desired prey (wingspan - up to 130 cm). The eyes of the bird are widely spaced, having an iris of orange or saturated yellow.

The plumage of buzzard is characterized by a rather variable color. The main color scheme is brown shades. The sternum of the bird has a light color, as well as the inner side of the wings. The tail feathers in the tail are distinguished by a reddish-brown color with characteristic stripes having a transverse arrangement.

The buzzard has quite strong and large legs, feathered before the foregrip. Sharp claws on the paws serve to capture prey.The beak of the bird also has its own characteristics - black with a yellowish wax, the shape is hook-shaped. The tail is short enough, in flight reveals a wide fan. The average lifespan of a buzzard is up to 8 years.

Related species

Today, there are several dozen species of buzzard that are often confused with eagles (about 30 species). We note that the silhouette of the buzzard really resembles an eagle, however, the buzzard is significantly inferior to the king of birds in size. The main weapon of a buzzard in hunting small animals is sharp claws and a strong beak of a bird.

Features of reproduction of a bird of prey

If an ordinary buzzard created a pair, then this is for life. With the onset of spring, one can notice the unique mating flights of buzzard. This sight can amaze anyone - in the air, birds perform incredible acrobatic stunts.

At the beginning of courtship games, the partners are in the air for a rather long time, while making characteristic loud noises. After that, the male presents to the female buzzard a small animal caught during the hunt or a twig of the plant, thereby showing her signs of his attention.

The created pair builds its nest, as a rule, in the crown of a large and tall tree, mainly included in a cluster of dense vegetation located on the slopes of rocks (trees are shrubbery). The design of the nest is quite massive - the diameter of the "home" of the buzzard reaches one meter.

As a material for building a nest, a buzzard uses thick branches and knots. The inner part is lined with moss, grass, branches of heather. Often a pair of buzzards uses one built nest for several years. Another feature of the buzzard’s behavior is that on their territory these birds of prey can build several nests, but only one of them is used to breed offspring.

Egg laying by the female is carried out at the beginning of the warm period (spring, summer: from March to June). As a rule, the average number of eggs laid is 2-4. The pockmarked eggs are white with gray-brown spots. Hatching is carried out during the month by both parents of future chicks.

After the appearance of the chicks, the female buzzard spends most of the time with them, warming her offspring. The male’s task at this time is to provide the extended family with food. As a rule, it is the female who is the first to be fed with the food brought by the father of the family, the chicks get only what is left after her. After several weeks, both parents begin to hunt and get food to feed the grown offspring.

When the chicks reach two months of age, they begin to learn to fly, after which, as a rule, leave the nest. Nevertheless, for about another two months they remain under the strict supervision of their parents.

With the onset of autumn, parents will expel offspring from their territory. Buzzard puberty occurs when the age of the bird reaches 2-3 years.

Interesting facts about buzzard, common buzzard

1. The number of buzzard populations living in a certain area directly depends on how attractive it is to these birds for its feeding characteristics - this factor is very important when choosing a nesting place.
2. Most of the created pairs of these beautiful birds of prey begin the process of breeding their offspring only if the territory in which they nest is replete with necessary food, in particular small rodents. If there is not enough food, then in this case some of the buzzards do not breed their offspring this year, while the rest, if they lay eggs, the latter in the clutch are much smaller than usual.
3. One of the favorite vacation spots of buzzards is the support of high voltage lines. Often, this fact is the cause of the death of many birds due to electric shock.Therefore, at present, supports are installed that are absolutely safe for feathered predators and, accordingly, can prevent their death.
4. I would like to draw attention to the fact that the land of the common buzzard is not only the territory, but also the airspace above it (up to 240 m.). In the event that any other alien bird appears in the air above the buzzard’s territory, the predator begins to attack it almost immediately. Birds that fly over the territory of the buzzard above the indicated height - the predator simply ignores it.
5. In Scotland buzzards quite often visiting travelers are confused with such a bird as an eagle, which is why buzzards got the title of traveler eagle from tourists. Often, most visitors due to their inexperience take the buzzard for one of the rare subspecies of the golden eagle.
6. Sarych is a rather cunning and clever bird that feels great both in freedom and in captivity.
7. The buzzard is often called the mouse bird.
8. In England, locals call the buzzard "bussard", which can be translated as a mewing eagle. This is due to the sounds that this bird makes, very reminiscent of cat meow.

Video: Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo)