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Two different shaped buzzards (1 Viewer)

Neil Grubb

Neil Grubb

Well-known member
Two buzzards were circling over my house today. I photographed both, because I noticed their shapes were different. One appears to have less broad wings, with a different wing shape, than the other, and had a broader tail. I'm fairly sure they are both common buzzards given all other ID features. Is this part of the normal variability of common buzzards, or does the right hand of the two just have more abraded plumage ? Are there subtypes of common buzzard ?

Neil
 

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The right-hand bird is a good "pitfall" picture, as in many ways it looks like a Honey Buzzard, at least the head does! Birds often look different shaped depending upon what they are doing. The left-hand bird seems to be soaring, with little effort, whereas the right-hand bird has probably seen something of interest and is stretching to look whilst manoeuvering. If you know anything about aerodynamics you'll know that the wing flexes to carry out different movements - aircraft use aerolons and elevons to control lift and direction, birds simply flex their wings!
 
Hi Guys,
Been a while since I last saw 'Buzzards' in Europe, but shouldn't Honey Buzzard have two bands on the tail?
These both look like Common Buzzards to me.
Tom
 
Hi Neil, you're right that the two birds have different shapes. It's because the right-hand bird is a juvenile, which are slimmer-winged and "rangier-looking" than the more compact adults. You can tell it's a juvenile by the lack of a distinct dark trailing edge to the wing and also because it's streaked rather than barred on the upper breast.

The left-hand bird is an older bird and you can see the dark trailing edge clearly on the wing. During their first moult Common Buzzards attain a fuller hand and lose the S-shape bulge on the secondaries that helps gives juveniles the slimmer-winged look. The left-hand bird is, I think, in "first-adult" plumage, meaning it's in it's third calendar year. It looks basically adult-like but still has one or two juvenile unmoulted secondaries, which lack a broad subterminal bar.

Rgds

Greg
 
Hello

While we're on the subject of buzzard shape, can anyone help me?

At the beginning of this month I watched a bird of prey circling on the Cornish coast over a rocky outcrop (before watching a barn owl on Dartmoor the following day :)). It looked slightly smaller than a buzzard. It had a predominantly white underside with a bit of red tinge to the edge of wings and tail. It's wings were straight, and tapered to a curve at there ends.

Do buzzards and other birds of prey have any means of bringing in those feathers on the end of their wings whilst soaring?

Shandyjack
 
shandyjack said:
At the beginning of this month I watched a bird of prey circling on the Cornish coast over a rocky outcrop ... . It looked slightly smaller than a buzzard. It had a predominantly white underside with a bit of red tinge to the edge of wings and tail. It's wings were straight, and tapered to a curve at there ends.
Click to expand...
Other than the colour tinge (chromatic abberation, perhaps?), this is may be descriptive of a Peregrine Falcon, shandyjack.

Andy.
 
Tom Tarrant said:
Hi Guys,
Been a while since I last saw 'Buzzards' in Europe, but shouldn't Honey Buzzard have two bands on the tail?
These both look like Common Buzzards to me.
Tom
Click to expand...

I think MSA was saying that the picture is an example of one of those where confusion with Honey Buzzard could arise based on shape Tom, not that it actually is a Honey Buzzard. Hence referring to it as a 'pitfall' picture.
 
White*Kite said:
I think MSA was saying that the picture is an example of one of those where confusion with Honey Buzzard could arise based on shape Tom, not that it actually is a Honey Buzzard. Hence referring to it as a 'pitfall' picture.
Click to expand...

Also, no way that a Honey Buzzard would be around this time of year.
 
White*Kite said:
I think MSA was saying that the picture is an example of one of those where confusion with Honey Buzzard could arise based on shape Tom, not that it actually is a Honey Buzzard. Hence referring to it as a 'pitfall' picture.
Click to expand...

Exactly! Thanks WhiteKite.

It really is surprising how much bird appearance can change based on what they are doing. For example, Goshawks can look very much like Peregrines - not something you'd ever imagine, unless you'd spent a lot of time watching them! It usually happens after they've been soaring for a while and (I guess) want to return "home" quickly.
 
Andrew Rowlands said:
Other than the colour tinge (chromatic abberation, perhaps?), this is may be descriptive of a Peregrine Falcon, shandyjack.

Hello Andrew

It was to definately to big to be a Peregrine, it was similar in size as Buzzard, but slightly smaller. The wings were really broad as well.

Blah, wish I'd had my camera with me. 'Think this ones going to remain a mystery, distant memory and itch in my curiosity

Shandy
Click to expand...
 
lockbreeze926 said:
Shandy : the wing taper is wrong, but that could be a factor of whatever the bird is doing; otherwise, I'd guess you saw an escaped Red-Tailed Hawk.

How about this image? http://media.portland.indymedia.org/images/2004/12/305677.gif
Click to expand...

Hello Lockbreeze

Thanks for coming back to me!! That's certainly the sort of colour scheme on the lower side of the wings. The tail was nowhere near as widely splayed in the picture, but this can vary. The red tinge was only visible towards the end of the tail.

You say the tapering of the wing is wrong? The wings definately gave the appearance of a noticeable, consistant, reduction in width. The wings were still broad at the end but ended in a smooth curve with no signs of feathers sticking out at all. It was this feature that really caught my eye as I'm used to seeing Birds of Prey of this size with the (primary?) feathers protruding from the end of the wings. Can they be folded in to give this appearance?

If this helps any, my view was from almost directly under it on a sunny day, and it was sufficently close to be able to see the markings distinctly. The bird was only seen holding it's height and gliding. I also saw it perched on the edge of a big craggy rock (highest point), but this view was a silouhette only.

(Sorry for adding this to your thread by the way Neil, I should've started my own one)

Best Regards

Jack
 
Continuing the hijack - sorry Neil :)

Couldn't Shandyjack's bird have been a Common Buzzard? They're very variable in plumage, so perhaps a pale one would show the wing margins and tail banding as reddish brown, especially when seen from below against the light. They often glide, or soar in slope lift with the primaries closed up to give a wing outline much like lockbreeze's red-tail.
 
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