The Common Buzzard
When I first published this blog in January 2019 my personal library of reasonable photos was limited, and John Hawkins gave me permission to use some of his amazing shots. (https://www.zpc-naturefolio.org.uk/john-hawkins.html).
Since then I’ve been working hard on developing my own library. While I will never achieve the same quality as John’s, I now have a number I would like to include.
The original blog was called “Woodcock Wood’s Buzzards” and started: “Well, not ours exactly …. but during the spring and summer it’s rare for us not to see and hear the buzzards. In Woodcock Wood they fly above our backdrop of Corsican pine and make forays across the chestnut coppice, occasionally perching in the tall oaks. With open fields behind the pines, this makes the perfect habitat for this beautiful bird.
We are lucky that Woodcock Wood is a small but central part of their territory. We see them most often in spring when the pair renew their vows in noisy and beautifully aerobatic courtship displays.
It’s usually their calls that attract our attention, and then it is a privilege to watch their mastery of flight in these displays. They are at their most spectacular when they soar (spiral) upwards on a thermal. The smaller male usually climbs first, with the female following under him, sometimes spiralling in the opposite direction. It is extraordinary how fast they climb … and if we are lucky, they might then come close together, wing tips touching, and then with wings back the male stoops at breathtaking speed. It’s beautiful to watch, and it’s why we are so addicted to watching raptors.
Throughout the summer while the young are being reared, the adult pair continue to display. They frequently soar, or follow the boundaries of their territory, and make their presence known with that evocative call. These flights act as warning displays for potential intruders. Studies have shown that the flight patterns of the courtship and territorial displays form a complex language and act as social signals for mates, young juveniles, and potential intruders.
Buzzards actually spend most of their time perched, either hunting from low perches, or on the bare branches of high trees just watching. During late summer and winter we see less of them, but the breeding pair maintain their territory throughout the year.
Along with sparrow hawks, buzzards are the most common European raptor. In UK there is little to confuse them with, but in Spain and Portugal, where we spend a lot of time watching raptors, identification can be more challenging. The common buzzard’s plumage is very variable, and their silhouette against a cloudy sky can easily be confused with booted eagles, honey buzzards and others … but that is another story. In Woodcock Wood, when we hear their ki ki call and see their profile we know immediately that we are watching buzzards, and what a pleasure that is!
Buzzard Display – courtship and territory
Notes from March 2020: spent several days at the wood watching them at the peak of their display time.
16th March: We saw the male Buzzard at his best – slow flight with deep exaggerated wing beats, sharp short climbs and dives, occasionally treating us (and his mate) to a tumbling loop, before soaring high. The female would follow, both rising so quickly on a thermal they would be specks, impossible to see without binoculars. High up we could see close passes, sometimes starting some distance apart before diving towards a common point. Several times the female would flip and the male would dive, touch, and off again at breathtaking speed.
23th March: The birds were particularly noisy. We heard what we thought were gulls calling from the fields at the back of the wood. In fact it was the Buzzards – a strange call, very different to their ki ki. A third bird appeared. From our view point we didn’t see anything overtly aggressive or challenging going on but there was something serious at hand.
24th March: The two Buzzards were flying high and in full display. From left field a third appeared, and in succession several more until there were 7 birds flying together with plenty of interaction, close passes, but no contact or chasing that we could make out. Interesting … the literature says that at this time of the year neighbouring pairs will gather to test and reinforce the boundaries. Almost certainly this is what we were seeing.
The next day, 25th March: Just the two Buzzards around. Nothing spectacular. Any boundary disputes obviously sorted.
Through his meticulous study of “The Social Behaviour of Buzzards” Robin Prytherch describes the many different characteristics of the Common Buzzard’s territorial and pair bonding behaviour. For those fortunate enough to observe these birds in detail his paper is certainly worth reading:
https://www.britishbirds.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/article_files/V102/V102_N05/V102_N5_19_45.pdf