In recent years, the population of British buzzards has exploded with thriving populations now in peripheral areas where there were few, such as Cheshire, Northamptonshire and the Lothians.

Statistics
Body length: 50-57cm, Wingspan: 113-128cm, Weight: 0.5-1.3kg.

Physical description
Common buzzards have variable plumage, ranging from pale to dark brown. The tail is barred and there is often a white patch on the underside of the wings.

Distribution
They breed in Europe and Asia to Japan, and winter in E. Africa, Malaya and S. China. British and Irish buzzards are sedentary.

Habitat
They inhabit forests and areas with scattered woodland. In Britain they are spreading into the lowland farmland areas from which they have been excluded for many years.

Diet
Buzzards predominantly hunt rabbits, but also feed on rodents, ground birds, reptiles and carrion.

Behaviour
They hunt by dropping on their prey from slow or hovering flight or from a perch. They nearly always kill the prey on the ground. They perform spectacular aerial displays during the breeding season, involving circling high in the sky and then tumbling down towards the ground. Buzzards are believed to mate for life. Breeding success is heavily dependant on food supplies.

Reproduction
The nest is made of sticks, heather and other foliage, and is sited high up in a tree or on a cliff edge. The female lays 2-3 eggs from late March to May, which both sexes incubate for about 34 days. The chicks fledge after about 40-45 days but do not become independent for a further 6-8 weeks.

Conservation status
Common buzzards are not considered to be globally threatened, and are not listed in the 2000 IUCN Red List. In Britain, numbers were reduced after myxomatosis in the 1950s killed off 99 per cent of their rabbit prey. They have also been directly persecuted.

Voice
They have a gull-like, high-pitched mewing call.