Vida

Appearance and behavior. Predator of medium size, noticeably larger. Body length 46–57 cm, weight 530–1360 g, wingspan 100–130 cm. The female is slightly larger than the male. The physique is rather dense, the tail looks somewhat shortened, the ends of the folded wings almost reach the tail cut. The legs are of medium length, the feather “pants” on the shins are well developed, the tarsus is not feathered. The beak is shortened. Landing is usually vertical.

Description. The general color background is very variable, from dark brown to light red, grayish and fawn. The number and intensity of longitudinal, transverse, and drop-shaped streaks on the body and stripes on the wings and tail vary greatly. Usually, in adult birds, a semilunar lightening is expressed in the lower part of the chest, separating the darker parts of the plumage of the crop and belly. The throat may also be light.

In our country, buzzards usually have a distinct reddish tint, especially on the tail (subsp. B.b. vulpinus), however, in the west of the region, buzzards with practically no red and buffy tones in plumage can be found, differing in noticeably larger sizes (subspecies B.b. buteo). In the Caucasus, buzzards are also large, but they are distinguished by a more pronounced buffy hue in plumage, a bright red tail, and often a light head (according to these features caucasian form B.b. menetriesi similar to ).

The flying buzzard differs from other soarers of similar size by wings slightly raised above the body with dark spots on the folds and a dark stripe along the rear edge. In a soaring bird, the tail is usually opened wider than in other predators. Compared to the Long-legged Buzzard and Buzzard, the dark spots on the folds of the wings are usually less pronounced, the coloration is less contrasting, the wings are shorter and relatively wider. Compared to the honey buzzard, the wings of the soaring buzzard are also shorter and wider, more advanced forward, with a more convex posterior margin and a less pronounced carpal fold, an extensive light (often with small stripes) field formed from the feathers of primary feathers is sharply expressed from below. flight feathers merge into a single frame of the top of the wing.

The neck is shorter and the head is wider than that of the honey buzzard, the tail is not so rounded and shorter, usually reddish or lighter than the body, with narrow transverse stripes, more distinct below. There is a wider dark stripe along the edge of the tail (unlike the Long-legged Buzzard), but it may not be there. Juveniles are somewhat lighter and more variegated, the apical stripe on the tail and the dark stripe along the posterior edge of the wing are blurred, dark spots on the carpal folds are less pronounced. On average, juveniles are more variegated than adults, and have practically no transverse streaks on the underside of the body.

Voice. Long nasal meowing " kyaaa-aa”, published in flight; with anxiety" keu-uuu" - clear or vibrating or hoarse " kheuuu". The name of the bird comes from the word "buzz".

Distribution, status. It inhabits almost the entire extratropical Eurasia from the Azores and Canary Islands to Japan and from the Arctic Circle to the deserts of Arabia, Iran, Central and Central Asia. In Russia - from the western borders to the Caucasus, Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. In the European part of the country, it is distributed relatively evenly. The background species of predators in the south of the forest zone and forest-steppe, on migrations, is also found in completely open arid spaces.

In most of Europe (subspecies B.b. buteo) and in the Caucasus (subspecies B.b. menetriesi) buzzard populations are sedentary; subspecies common in the temperate zone of European Russia B.b. vulpinus(small, or steppe, buzzard) flies away for wintering up to tropical Africa and Asia, partly winters in the area of ​​snowless winters in the Black Sea, Caspian and Ciscaucasia.

Lifestyle. Prefers mosaic landscapes with a predominance of open spaces. In the forest zone, these are predominantly agricultural landscapes. It feeds mainly on small rodents; with a decrease in the number of voles and other mouse-like rodents, it can feed on frogs, chicks, even worms and mollusks. He practically does not hunt in the forest, he usually looks out for prey on open space in soaring flight from a height of 30–50 m. Often uses telegraph poles, dry broken tree tops for guarding victims and resting. It arrives in the middle lane from wintering on the last snow.

Nests in the forests various types along the edges, clearings, in the immediate vicinity of open spaces. In the steppe zone, nests are located in overgrown ravines, forest belts, floodplain forests. Some pairs have permanent territories, others nest in a new place every year. They build nests on trees 2–20 m from the ground, sometimes they occupy strangers, completing their construction. The diameter of the nest is 0.3–1.2 m, the height of the building is up to 1 m, there is grass in the lining, and periodically replaced green branches along the edge of the tray. The clutch usually contains 2–4 eggs with a dirty white shell covered with brownish and red spots. Incubation lasts from 28 to 38 days, the male carries food to the incubating female, sometimes replacing her for a short time.

The common buzzard, also called the buzzard, is a bird of prey from the hawk family. Lives throughout Europe. In Asia, lives in a wooded area. From the north it is limited by the tundra, and from the south by the steppe zone. In anticipation of cold weather, this species makes only minor migrations to the south. Only one subspecies is migratory. From middle lane In Russia, it moves to the southern regions of Africa and Asia.

In buzzards, females are larger than males. The body length of the bird ranges from 50-58 cm. The wingspan is 115-130 cm. The wing length reaches 38-40 cm. The tail is 25-28 cm long. The body weight is 450-1300 grams. The plumage color is diverse - it is almost impossible to see two identical birds. Some representatives of the species are black-brown in color, and have transverse stripes on the tail.

Other birds have a brown back and chest, while the rest of the body is gray-brown and diluted with dark spots. There are also light brown buzzards with black spots and transverse stripes. There are also a variety of other colors available. The legs are pale yellow, the cere is yellow, the tip of the beak is dark, and at the base it is pale blue. The cornea is reddish-brown. With age, it becomes gray. Young birds are more variegated in color and their corneas are light brown.

Reproduction and lifespan

The mating season begins at the end of April. Males fight over females. The resulting pairs build nests or renew old ones. The nest is usually located at a height of 5 to 15 meters above the ground near the trunk of a coniferous or deciduous tree. This is usually a fork of thick branches. Thick branches are laid between them at first. Closer to the center they become thinner. The recess itself is laid out with thin twigs, grass and leaves. The bottom is lined with moss, feathers and wool.

The clutch usually contains 3-4 eggs. They have a pale green background with brown spots. Only the female incubates, the male carries food. The incubation period lasts 5 weeks. The chicks appear in early summer. They are covered with dark gray down. Both parents feed the chicks for a month and a half. Then the youth becomes on the wing, and in August an independent life begins. In the wild, the common buzzard usually lives 23-25 ​​years. The maximum life expectancy is 30-32 years.

Behavior and nutrition

A buzzard can be recognized immediately when it sits on a rock or tree. He usually cringes and bends one leg. At this time, the bird rests and at the same time vigilantly examines the surroundings, looking for prey. The predator flies slowly, but easily and silently. Sometimes it soars in the sky for a long time. Having seen the victim, it falls down, while the wings are tightly pressed to the body. Spreads them over the ground, flies some distance and grabs prey.

The diet mainly consists of mice and rats. The common buzzard also feeds on hamsters, moles, frogs, hares. Attacks snakes. From birds, partridges, pheasants, larks, blackbirds get from him. But the favorite food is mice. A predator eats up to 30 small rodents per day. This is about 11 thousand per year. That is, the feathered robber brings undoubted benefits environment by destroying harmful animals. If there are a lot of mice, then the bird does not pay any attention to other living creatures.

The great advantage of a predator is that it exterminates vipers. But he is not immune to poison. If a snake bites a bird, it will die. True, this rarely happens. The feathered robber usually comes out the winner. It makes sounds similar to the meowing of a cat. It has sharp eyesight, good touch, hearing and smell. This bird has a very well developed intelligence. In captivity, the common buzzard often shows sophisticated cunning and quick wits.

common buzzard

The common buzzard is one of the most common birds of prey in our fauna. This predator got its name from the word "beep", because its voice resembles a rather nasty cat's meow.

Systematics

Russian name- common buzzard, buzzard

Latin name- buteo buteo

English title- common buzzard

Class - Birds (Aves)

Detachment - Falconiformes (Falconiformes)

Family - Accipitridae

Genus - Buzzards (Buteo)

There are at least 8 subspecies.

The status of the species in nature

The common buzzard is one of the most common and numerous species of predators in northern Eurasia. Total population is over 1 million individuals. According to international qualification, it belongs to the species, the existence of which causes the least concern, but, nevertheless, it is protected by several international conventions.

View and person

The history of the relationship between man and birds of prey can be well seen in the example of buzzards. Back in the fifties of the last (twentieth century) century, in most regions of our country, all birds of prey were considered absolutely harmful and subject to destruction. In the charters of hunting societies, a mandatory item was the shooting of a certain number of raptors. It was believed that all these "hawks" destroy the feathered game bred on the farms. Each hunter was obliged to hand over some paws of the destroyed predators. Instead of hawks, there were usually buzzards, kites and honey beetles, as well as woodpeckers and even small passerines. But this did not bother anyone, the main thing is that the fight against "pests" was carried out actively and successfully. This was a powerful direct negative impact on buzzard populations.

No less, if not more, terrible was the so-called indirect impact, which significantly undermines the state of natural populations of birds of prey, including myophages (feeding on mouse-like rodents); it is to this group that the buzzards belong. This is the use in agriculture to control rodents and insects of pesticides, especially DDT. Being at the top of the food chain, birds of prey (and buzzards) accumulated very a large number of harmful substances. The result of this was a drastic reduction in nesting success. The fact is that most predators had a significant thinning of the egg shell, so a large number of eggs broke during incubation, they simply could not withstand the weight of the female.

All this has put many species of birds of prey on the brink of extinction. Buzzards, of course, were not threatened with complete extinction, but their numbers in our forests have significantly decreased.

Fortunately, things began to change in the 1970s better side. Thanks to the research of ornithologists, it was proved that most species of birds of prey, and the buzzard in the first place, not only do no harm, but, on the contrary, can even bring some benefit, destroying a large number of rodents. And in the years of the absence of rodents, buzzards switch to eating frogs, and not birds, as was previously believed. Perhaps only the goshawk remained in the category of potentially harmful, and even then, only in specialized hunting farms. In addition, the use of DDT and some other pesticides in agriculture was universally banned. The removal of these main factors of negative pressure gave a fairly quick positive effect. Natural populations of many species, including buzzards, began to recover quite quickly and successfully.

Distribution and habitats

Nesting places All year round

Wintering places

The common buzzard lives throughout extratropical Eurasia from the Azores and Canary Islands to Japan and from the Arctic Circle to the completely treeless deserts of Arabia, Iran, Central and Central Asia. In Russia - from the western borders to Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, but in Siberia it is found only in certain places. Buzzards prefer mosaic landscapes with open spaces for hunting; it is the background view of most agricultural landscapes.

Appearance

The common buzzard is a medium-sized bird, length 50-57 cm, wingspan 100-130 cm, body weight 530-1360 g; females are larger than males. The coloration is very variable, from pale yellow to dark brown, the number and intensity of longitudinal and transverse streaks on the body varies greatly. In our country, buzzards most often have a reddish color. The cere and legs are yellow. In flight, it differs from other soaring predators of the same size by wings slightly raised above the body with dark spots on the folds and a dark stripe along the rear edge, and a relatively short, rounded tail with a dark stripe. Young ones are more variegated.

lifestyle and social behavior.

In some parts of the range, buzzards are sedentary (most of Europe, the Caucasus, Japan). Our buzzards belonging to subspecies B.b. vulpinus - the little or steppe buzzard is migratory, wintering in tropical Africa and Asia. In spring, they fly to nesting sites alone, in pairs or in small groups; sometimes several dozen birds can gather at the roosting site. Buzzards fly slowly, but easily and silently.

Buzzards form permanent pairs and strictly limited nesting areas. Sometimes a pair uses the same nesting site for several years, sometimes changes every year (especially if the pair was disturbed during the last breeding season). When a person appears within the nesting area, the pair soars high for some time, uttering its characteristic “squealing” cry. The location of the nest on the site can be preserved for a number of years, and then the birds only correct it after arrival, or it can change, and then they build a new one.

Feeding and feeding behavior

The basis of the diet of the common buzzard is made up of mouse-like rodents: mainly voles and, to a lesser extent, mice. He eats up to 30 of these small rodents per day, i.e. about 11 thousand per year. The daily need for food is 100-150 g. With a decline in the number of voles and other mouse-like rodents, it can eat frogs, chicks, even worms and mollusks. It catches snakes well, but it does not have immunity to the poison of vipers, and in case of a bite it dies. It can also eat carrion. It catches prey from the air or from perches. Having looked out for the prey, the buzzard folds its wings, pressing them tightly to the body, and falls down. Above the ground, he spreads his wings, flies some distance and grabs prey.

Reproduction, raising offspring and parental behavior

Buzzards nest in the forest on trees at a height of 4 to 15 m, and the trees can be both deciduous and coniferous. The nest is built from dry branches and lined with needles, small twigs and moss. During the entire nesting period, adult birds regularly bring fresh green branches to the nest. For most pairs, the nesting area is permanent, and the location of the nest may change. Some pairs also change nesting territory.

In the clutch of buzzards from 2 to 4 eggs, off-white with reddish-brown spots. Usually only the female incubates, the male only occasionally changes her for a short time. The incubation period lasts about 1 month. Like all predators, the interval between oviposition in buzzards is 1-2 days, and incubation begins with the first egg. As a result, the chicks in the same nest are of different ages. The chicks that appeared are dressed in light down, with open eyes, but completely helpless. For the first few days, the female is inseparably on the nest, warming and guarding the chicks. Only the male hunts, bringing prey and throwing it on the nest. The female breaks the prey and feeds the chicks. If there is a lot of prey, the younger chick catches up with the older ones in growth, and the brood survives completely. If there is not enough prey, the younger one almost does not get it, and the older chicks behave so aggressively that they often kill their younger brothers. This phenomenon is called cannibalism, and it is often observed in birds of prey. As the chicks grow, the parents leave them alone more and more, and the female also begins to hunt. The chicks leave the nest at the age of 6-7 weeks.

Young buzzards start breeding at the age of 2 years.

Lifespan

In nature, buzzards live for about 20 years, and in captivity they can live up to 30 years.

Life in the zoo.

In our zoo, common buzzards are kept in an enclosure near the Small Pond in the Old Territory. Most often, buzzards get to the zoo from visitors who pick up either fledglings (which you don’t need to do!), Or injured birds.

The buzzard's daily diet includes about 200 g of meat and 1 rat.

The common buzzard, or buzzard, is the simplest and at the same time the most remarkable bird of prey in our forests (Fig. 13). A buzzard is simple in its unpretentious appearance, it is small, not very strong, not very dexterous, and not very brave. And the buzzard is remarkable for the benefits it brings to people.

The buzzard is the most common predator, it firmly occupies the first place in our forests in terms of numbers among its fellows in the detachment. About 3-4 thousand pairs of buzzards live in the Moscow region, which is almost half (45%) of the total population of all raptors. It should be noted, for comparison, that in Great Britain, on a territory 5 times larger, about 10 thousand pairs of buzzards were counted. Above the fields and forests, above the clearings, above the edges and clearings and copses, buzzards circle in the summer sky, most likely, “soar”. The silhouettes of these birds are soft and rounded: the wings and tail are wide and not long. The color is brownish, inconspicuous, and besides, some birds are darker, while others are lighter, and others are completely yellow from below. Only the voice of the buzzard is noteworthy - its loud, viscous "kyaya-kyaya-kyaya" noticeably looks like a cat's meow. He was also called a buzzard for his lingering, annoying cries, as if he was begging for something, snarling. The size of a buzzard is a little more than a crow, but it looks somehow more impressive.

In our country, the buzzard is very widely distributed: during nesting time, it is absent only in the tundra, in the remote East Siberian taiga and in treeless areas of the south. In winter, the buzzard flies away from us.

The number of buzzards is not the same everywhere. In the taiga, for example, it is scarce, and in the forest-steppe and preserved forests of Central Europe sometimes up to two or three pairs per 1 km 2 of forest nest (and in our central regions up to one pair per 5-10 km 2 of forest).

The buzzard nests in a variety of forests, but always near the edges, large glades or clearings. He makes nests quite large - up to a meter with a small diameter, and he necessarily covers them from above with green branches of pine, spruce, aspen, birch. Especially a lot of green buzzards drag during egg-laying or incubation. But sometimes buzzards bring twigs to the nest with already adult chicks. And one must see the bewildered faces of the hungry buzzards, carefully examining the green twig brought by the parent. The most enterprising of them even begin to peck at this twig, but soon they are convinced that birch leaves are not as tasty as mice and voles. And they know a lot about voles! After all, the main prey of buzzards, in other years making up more than 90% of their diet, are mouse-like rodents. And among them in the first place is most often one of the most serious agricultural pests in the middle lane - the common vole. Of other foods, moles, shrews, frogs, lizards, chicks and fledglings of some birds are of particular importance for buzzards. Among the fledglings, chicken puffballs occasionally fall into the paws of buzzards (two or three grouse per summer). But there were enthusiasts of game protection who considered this "damage" sufficient to declare the buzzard - this cruelest enemy of mice and voles - outlawed. Ornithologists even had to carry out special studies, determining the magnitude of this "damage" to the hunting economy. They found out that even in a hunting economy rich in game (where there is little game, buzzards do not touch it at all) and even in years of low abundance of the main food - mouse-like rodents - all buzzards catch no more than 1-2% of young wild chickens.

And yet, in the requirements of hunters to identify the hunting economic significance of the buzzard, there was a logic of its own. The fact is that the number of mouse-like rodents, as is well known, fluctuates sharply from year to year. And about once every 4 years, mouse-like rodents almost completely disappear from our fields (many books and articles have been written about the causes of this phenomenon, but there is no need to discuss them here). In this whole story, hunters were primarily interested in the following question: what do buzzards eat when there are no rodents, and in such cases do they switch to catching young chickens? Now these doubts can be answered quite definitely - no, they do not.

In such cases, the role of the main "substitute" for mouse-like rodents is played by frogs, which in some years account for up to 70% of the prey of individual pairs of buzzards. And the chicks understand perfectly well as food. The author was convinced of this more than once, watching for long hours the intimate life of broods from huts-arbors built on trees, 4-6 m from the nest of buzzards. If you could see what a fuss begins at the nest when the head of the family appears with a vole in his claws. For some reason, the female buzzard frantically rushes at her husband and, after a short scuffle, literally takes his prey from him. Why such aggression is undertaken is still incomprehensible to us, since even in the absence of a female, the male buzzard never gave the slightest reason to suspect him of trying to hide prey from his own family. The chicks also participate in the landfill to the best of their ability, striving to be the first to break through to a tasty morsel. When the buzzard chicks are still small, they show their interest with loud demanding cries and persistent attempts to attract the attention of their mother (Fig. 14). When young buzzards grow up, they do not wait until someone feeds them. Buzzards quickly rush to the prey and start a light brawl until some lucky one finally manages to swallow the vole. After that, peace reigns in the family, as if by magic. A moment ago disheveled and desperate rivals at once. they turn into bosom friends. They even straighten each other's feathers.

Young buzzards meet a male who brought a frog in a completely different way. True, at first the same hubbub rises on the nest. But as soon as its inhabitants understand what their father brought them, interest in prey immediately fades away. The chicks take turns inspecting the frog, even touching it or for some reason shifting it from place to place, but they stubbornly refuse to eat the prey brought by their father. The female also remains indifferent to such an offering. She immediately starts screaming at the male often, often, with some scandalous intonations, not calming down until he flies away for new prey.

And already quite icy indifference meets the head of the family when he brings ... a toad (this happens to him, although rarely, but it happens). And what a buzzard looks like at this time! The author is well aware of the inadmissibility of anthropomorphism * when describing the behavior of animals, but after all, you can find out from dozens of small details of behavior, for example, that a puppy has done something wrong, and a cat is happy with something. Now, believe it or not, when a male buzzard brings a toad, he is very ashamed! And he holds himself somehow guilty, and tries to slip away from the nest unnoticed. Yes, he has something to be ashamed of: the gastronomic advantages of the toad, apparently, are useless. And the skin of toads is strong - not only chicks, but also adult buzzards do not immediately manage to break it. In addition, these amphibians are surprisingly tenacious, having been in the claws of a predator, the toads do not die, but often begin to crawl along the nest, eventually falling off it. Having plopped down from 8-10 meters high, they again sometimes manage to stay alive.

* (Anthropomorphism is an attempt to attribute rational, conscious actions, human emotions, to animals.)

Such pictures from nature can be seen at a time when buzzards have an abundance of food. It is quite different to observe in famine years, when there are no mouse-like rodents in the fields. At this point, buzzards do not refuse either frogs or even toads. Yes, and "dinner" battles between the chicks at such a time become more and more cruel and often end tragically for many of them.

Here we can touch on a phenomenon that is quite common among birds of prey, known as "cannibalism" * . Its essence lies in the fact that in years of acute shortage of food, some of the chicks from the brood are destroyed by the parents themselves or brothers, the same chicks, but stronger. Usually two or three chicks hatch in a buzzard's nest. In years of abundance of mouse-like rodents, all chicks fly out, and in hungry years - one, and even then not always.

* (Cannibalism - brutality, cruelty, barbarity.)

While on duty at the nests, the author has more than once seen the relationship between the chicks, which can in no way be called fraternal. In all predators, chicks hatch in turn in 1-2 days. Therefore, some chicks in the brood are larger (older), while others are much smaller (younger), and with age this difference either disappears (if there is an excess of food) or increases (if there is not enough food). And this happens because the older, stronger chick captures the best pieces, pushes the younger ones aside, allowing them to eat only when it is completely full. At the same time, the behavior of a strong chick is the more aggressive and cruel towards the younger members of the family, the less food the parents bring.

Finally, at some stage, the simple repulsion of the youngest chick from food and random blows with its beak are replaced by systematic, purposeful pursuit. We have seen how the older chick, already twice as large as its brother, stubbornly chased the younger one around the nest, trying to hit it with its beak in the head or back. When parents appeared with food, they even developed quite a specific tactic. The older chick, for example, first of all rushed not to the prey, but to the younger one, trying to drive it to the far edge of the nest. The younger chick also rushed not to food, but behind the back of the female, from where he made his way under her belly and, not noticed by the brother, managed to snatch a piece or two from the prey. The female, on the other hand, looked at all this with complete indifference, even if the carnage between the chicks unfolded before her eyes. On this nest, the finale was natural: the youngest chick eventually died, and the female fed its corpse to the older one.

What cruelty! - another reader will think. Yes, indeed, the custom is not humane. But let's look at this phenomenon more broadly, so to speak "from the point of view" of the species as a whole. It is known that the situation with feed in birds changes very sharply from year to year. Moreover, birds of prey cannot predict whether the year will be hungry or full.

This is where it is worth asking the question: what is better for the species - to grow one healthy fledgling per family or three sick and frail chicks in a hungry year. The answer should be simple. One big guy is much more useful. Here arises next question: why don't buzzards lay one egg instead of two or three? And if the year turns out to be full? Adult parent birds can raise three young fledglings, and only one egg is laid. Again unfavorable for the existence of the species. So it turns out that two or three eggs are laid as if "counting" for the best, optimal conditions. If there is not enough food, cannibalism makes adjustments, which allows the number of chicks to be brought into line with the available food resources.

It turns out that cruel cannibalism in birds of prey is one of the adaptations for the survival of the species in constantly changing food conditions.

There are, of course, other adaptations for this: the ability to change food, the relocation of some predators to places rich in food, etc.

But back to the buzzards. Buzzards do not suffer from a lack of appetite. Special calculations showed that a family of buzzards eats an average of 300-400 g of food per day, i.e., approximately 10-12 pieces of prey animals. At the same time, it was noticed that with an abundance of mouse-like rodents, the catch of these animals increases markedly - up to 15-20 and even 30 pieces per day.

So let's figure out what this side of the activity of all the buzzards of any area looks like. According to the most conservative estimates, in a year of abundance of rodents, each buzzard hatching during the summer exterminates at least 500 voles - the most important pests of agriculture. It is, of course, difficult to accurately determine the extent of their damage, but without going into complex calculations, we can confidently say that each vole eats about 1 kg of grain per season. It is not hard to imagine that only one family of buzzards saves about half a ton of grain during the summer! But after all, in the fields of each collective farm in our middle lane, a dozen or even more pairs of buzzards hunt, which already protect and save several tons of bread. Isn't this helping the national economy!

There is little remarkable in the hunting habits of the buzzard. The variety of food makes the buzzard to be a generalist - after all, each prey "requires" a special approach. But, possessing a wide range of hunting techniques, the buzzard, at the same time, did not achieve any outstanding results in any of them. It is nowhere near as swift as a peregrine falcon, not as strong as eagles, and not as agile as a hawk. However, this is the fate of most generalists in nature, and they all adapt faster to any changes. Let's not go far for examples. The buzzard and the kite are our most versatile predators (especially with regard to food). So they occupy in the European part of our country in terms of numbers a solid first place among their predatory counterparts, together making up almost 2/3 of their total number.

So how does a buzzard hunt anyway? His favorite manner is to circle over the fields, looking out from a height of 30-50 m for gaping voles. Flying like this over a field, a spacious clearing or a clearing, the buzzard from time to time seems to stop and hang in the air, fluttering its wings like a kestrel. And it can hang not as long as a falcon. After hanging like that for a second or two, the buzzard folds its wings and falls like a stone down onto its prey.

Another usual way of hunting a buzzard is a long watch somewhere on a branch or a pole near the road, clearing, near a small clearing or just at the edge of the forest. Here he watches over bank voles, noisy fledglings of thrushes, nimble shrews and even underground inhabitants - moles, laying their surface passages or. crawling out into daylight for any reason. In the years of small numbers of mouse-like rodents, buzzards arrange their guard posts near small puddles, in river valleys, near ponds, where they collect tribute from the frog kingdom.

Sometimes buzzards do not lie in wait, but seek out prey, flying through open forest or along the edge. From such "inspections" they return with the most diverse, sometimes unexpected prey. There were cases when buzzards brought small, but very predatory and dexterous weasels, prickly hedgehogs and even poisonous vipers.

The buzzard is afraid of man - apparently, the campaign against "harmful" predators taught him something. But I must say that buzzards are not afraid of every person. Here, for example, shepherds passing near the buzzard's nest, along with their herd and dogs, do not frighten him at all. They gradually got used to our bulky structures erected right next to their nest. If in the first days of observations from the hut we were afraid to move in them so as not to frighten away the bird, then by the middle of the feeding period, the buzzards, busy feeding, did not pay any attention to the rustling of notebooks, clicks of cameras, and sometimes even to the observer’s intentional cough. So, if you don’t offend the buzzards (and you shouldn’t offend them in any case), then you can restore trust in a person from this guard of our fields,

Our common buzzard also has relatives that belong to the same genus, but belong to different types. Most of them in North and South America - 18 species. In our country, there are much fewer of them - only 3 species. In the tundra and forest-tundra of Eurasia and North America lives

Buzzard, or hawk, or mouser(outdated) - buteo buteo

Appearance. The most common of the large birds of prey in central Russia. About 50 cm long. Wingspan up to a meter. Coloration from dark brown (dark form) to grayish-ocher (light form), the bottom is lighter with longitudinal streaks. Tail with frequent narrow transverse stripes, along the edge sometimes a wider dark stripe. Dark birds usually have large dark spots on the sides of the chest or a dark transverse stripe. The anterior margin of the wing is dark below. Superbly owns a soaring flight in ascending air currents; circling for a long time, especially during the mating season; can hover, fluttering its wings. The wings are wide, the tail is short.
It emits a nasally drawn-out “hiee-hiee...”.
Habitat. Prefers wooded areas interspersed with open spaces. The optimal habitat zone is forest-steppe.
Nutrition. Hunts in open areas, swamps and forest edges. It catches prey on the ground - small mammals, snakes, frogs, even insects. They feed not only on rodents: they cannot cope with well-flying prey, but they willingly grab poorly flying young birds, lizards, large insects, frogs, snakes, and sometimes try to recapture prey from other, more dexterous predators.
Nesting places. Breeds in coniferous, mixed and deciduous forests. Prefers groves and copses, alternating with meadows and arable land.
Nest location. The nest is arranged on trees, both coniferous (pine, spruce) and deciduous (birch, aspen, willow), at a height of 8-12 m from the ground, relatively close to the edge.
Nest building material. The material for the nest is dry branches, sometimes quite thick.
The shape and size of the nest. The tray is flat, lined with bark, dry leaves, thin twigs, moss and down. The nest is usually covered with green branches stuck into the walls of the nest. Nest diameter 500-800 mm, sometimes more than 1000 mm, nest height 200-500 mm, sometimes up to 750 mm, tray diameter 400-700 mm, sometimes up to 750 mm.
Masonry features. Clutch of 2-3, less often 4 eggs of whitish-green color with superficial chestnut-brown and deep purple-brown speckles. Egg sizes: (50-58) x (40-42) mm.
Nesting times. Arrives at the end of April and soon starts building a nest and laying eggs. Incubation lasts about a month. The chicks hatch in the first half of June. Flying young birds are observed at the end of July. Departure takes place in mid-September.
Spreading. It penetrates in places to the north quite far to Arkhangelsk, and in the lower reaches of the Pechora to 66 ° north latitude. In Western and Central Siberia, the buzzard is found mainly in the forest-steppe zone, but it has also been found in the north - near Tyumen, Tomsk, Yeniseisk.
Wintering. Flight view. Winters in Africa.
Economic value. By destroying harmful rodents, especially the gray vole, as well as large insects in the fields, the buzzard benefits agriculture. In many countries, it, like other birds of prey, is specially attracted to the fields by installing perches - poles with a crossbar, as well as platforms for nests.

Description of Buturlin. Birds of prey can often be seen in fields and forest clearings. medium size , soaring easily and silently at a moderate height, sometimes stopping in the air with frequent wing beats. This bird - in contrast to the usually silent predators - often emits a plaintive and thin cry: “hiee-hiee...” The name of the bird “buzzard” comes from this cry: it is definitely begging for something (“begging”). Another name for the buzzard - buzzard - is of eastern origin, from its Turkic name “sary”, which means “yellow”; it was given because of the yellowish-brown color of the bird. In the middle lane, the buzzard is one of the most common and numerous predators.
Our East European hawk is diverse coloring, although it is inferior in this respect to its larger Western European relative, which reaches Volhynia in Russia and occasionally occurs in winter in Ukraine (Podolia) and on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus. Adult buzzards are brown above, with reddish edges of feathers and with an admixture of rusty-red color on the tail, below they are buffy-whitish, with a strongly developed red transverse and longitudinal pattern. The iris of the buzzard is light brown, the paws and wax are yellow, and the claws are black. The wing of buzzards is 83.5-41.5 centimeters long and weighs 800-1000 grams.
Sarychi meet in our forest belt, avoiding open river areas, most often where groves and copses alternate with meadows and arable land. There are fewer buzzards in the remote forest regions, although they penetrate in places to the north quite far to Arkhangelsk, and in the lower reaches of the Pechora to 66 ° north latitude. In Western and Central Siberia, the buzzard is found mainly in the forest-steppe zone, but it is also found in the north - near Tyumen, Tomsk, Yeniseisk. To the east of Transbaikalia and the Lena basin, the Japanese buzzard is found.
The abundance of food significantly affects the entire course of life of predators and their habits. Barrow in the "mouse" year, when catching mice and voles is not difficult, often eats off only one head from the captured animal. According to many observations, in years rich in rodents, a buzzard catches 14 mice or voles a day, in poor years - only 6. The same numbers for a kestrel are 9 and 2, for a long-eared short-eared owl - 12 and 4. birds) change dramatically during the hatching of the young, which require a large amount of food for their normal development.
Western European buzzards - sedentary or semi-sedentary birds, but in Eastern Europe and Siberia all buzzards are migratory. Their winter quarters usually lie southwest of the nesting area. Eastern European buzzards winter in Africa; East Siberian (the so-called "Japanese") - in Central Asia, especially in Semirechye, and South Asia; West Siberian, - apparently, in Western Asia and India.
At the nesting sites of buzzards appears in the middle zone of the European part of Russia at the end of April. Like other predators, buzzards form permanent pairs, so that birds arrive already mated. Shortly after arrival, the male and female begin to build a nest or repair last year's one. Buzzards fly alone, in pairs or in groups, and sometimes they gather together for the night in the amount of several dozen individuals.
Nest buzzard is usually located high above the ground, but sometimes (in moss swamps in the middle of the forest) it is located directly on the ground. Incubation lasts about a month. Departure of chicks from the nest - about mid-July. The first days after the departure of young and old buzzards can often be seen together on the edges of the forest near the fields, in glades and meadows, where the old people still feed the young, bringing them food, and only after two weeks the birds begin to stay alone. At this time, young buzzards often fall under the shot of an inexperienced hunter who thinks to kill a predator, but in fact deprives his fields of a useful watchman.
are leaving buzzards in the middle lane of our country usually from the middle of September. In the southeastern regions - in Bashkiria and the Urals - they remain until early October. In Central Asia, East Siberian Buzzards are found from October to April, and some of the birds winter here, and some are found only on migration further south.

On our website you can read ornithology guide: bird anatomy and morphology , bird nutrition , bird breeding , bird migrations and bird diversity .

In the non-commercial online store of Ecological Center "Ecosystem" you can purchase the following teaching materials ornithology:
computer(electronic) guide to birds of central Russia, containing descriptions and images of 212 bird species (bird drawings, silhouettes, nests, eggs and voices), as well as a computer program for identifying birds encountered in nature,
pocket reference book "Birds of the middle band",
"Field guide to birds" with descriptions and images (drawings) of 307 species of birds in central Russia,
colored key tables"Migratory Birds" and "Winter Birds" and also
MP3 disc"Voices of the birds of the middle zone of Russia" (songs, calls, calls, alarms of 343 most common species of the middle zone, 4 hours 22 minutes) and
MP3 disc "