The common buzzard (Buteo buteo) is a medium-to-large bird of prey. The species live in most of Europe and extend its breeding range across the Palearctic as far as the Russian Far East, northwestern China (Tien Shan) and northwestern Mongolia. Over much of its range, it is a year-round resident.
However, buzzards from the colder parts of the Northern Hemisphere as well as those that breed in the eastern part of their range typically migrate south for the northern winter, many culminating their journey as far as South Africa.
This bird lives in a range of habitats, especially woodland, moorland, pasture, scrub, arable land, marsh bog, villages and sometimes towns and cities.
The colour of individuals varies from dark brown to much lighter, though they all have a finely barred tail and dark wingtips. The common buzzard has a very distinctive call, like a cat’s mew, and a distinctive flying shape. When soaring and gliding, the tail is fanned and its wings are often held in a shallow 'V'.
The common buzzard appears lazy when it sits quietly perched for lengthy periods, but it is, in fact, a very active bird, and flies back and forth over fields and forests. It usually lives a solitary life (lifespan is up to 25 years), but when migrating may form flocks of up to 20, using thermals to glide long distances with little effort. When flying over large bodies of water where there are no thermals the birds climb as high as they can before gliding across the entire expanse. This species is extremely territorial and will fight if there is an intrusion onto a pair’s territory.
Common buzzards are carnivore; they eat birds, small mammals, and carrion. If there is a lack of this prey, they will eat earthworms and large insects. The common buzzard has very good hearing and can hear a mouse moving in the grass. When it locates such prey, the buzzard will soar slowly to the ground and run quickly, with agility, to capture the prey. Common buzzards stamp on the ground in order to attract earthworms to the surface and then eat them.
Common buzzards are monogamous, pairs mating for life. A male attracts a mate (or impresses his existing one) by performing a spectacular ritual aerial display called ‘the roller coaster’. The bird flies high in the sky, then turns and plunges down, twisting and turning in a spiral, to rise again immediately and repeat the display.
From March to May, a breeding pair constructs their nest in a big tree on a branch or fork, usually close to the edge of a forest. The nest is a bulky platform made of sticks and lined with greenery, where the female lays two to four eggs. Incubation is for about 33 to 38 days, and when the chicks hatch they are brooded by their mother for three weeks, the male supplying food. Fledging is when the young are about 50 to 60 days old, and both parents continue to feed them for six to eight weeks more. At three years old, they are reproductively mature.
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