Common Buzzard
Buteo buteo
Aves › Accipitriformes › Accipitridae › Buteo
Conservation status: least_concern
The Common Buzzard is a stocky, medium-sized bird of prey with broad rounded wings and a short tail, typically brown or grey with variable plumage that makes individual birds look quite different from one another. It hunts by soaring in wide circles high overhead or perching prominently on posts and trees, watching the ground for small mammals like rabbits and voles.
How To Identify
It is a medium-to-large bird of prey with broad wings suitable for soaring. Males tend to have a darker brown mantle and tail compared to females, which can appear slightly paler.
Habitat
The Common Buzzard lives in woodland with open farmland.
Behaviour
The Common Buzzard soars in thermals and perches on fence posts while waiting for prey.
Native Range
The species lives in most of Europe and extends its breeding range across much of the Palearctic as far as northwestern China (Tian Shan), far western Siberia and northwestern Mongolia.
Did You Know?
Germany's most common raptor; its mewing call is often used in films as a generic 'eagle' sound.
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