- Buteo augur
Identification
Length 48–60 cm (19-23½ in)
Adult
- White belly and chest, speckled grey
- Dark slate-grey body
- Rufous tail feathers
- Yellow beak grey tipped
Immature:
- Upper parts brown with buff marking
- Brown-streaked white underparts
- Greyish tail below with light barring
- Full adult plumage is attained at about 18 months.
Distribution
East Africa: Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, and eastern Zaire to Namibia and Zimbabwe.
Taxonomy
Buteo augur is monotypic[4]; it is closely related to Jackal Buzzard B. rufofuscus. Some authors include Archer's Buzzard as a subspecies or a color morph of Augur Buzzard, others accept it as full species.[3].
Habitat
Prefers mountainous and hilly habitats, but also found in open woodland, savanna and grassland.
Behaviour
Diet
Their diet consists mainly of lizards, snakes and small birds; small mammals and insects are also eaten.
Breeding
They build a large stick nest on a cliff or sometimes a tall tree. Two eggs are incubated mostly by the female for 39-45 days; the second egg hatches about a day after the first. The younger chick is usually killed by its sibling within a few days. The surviving chick fledges after about 30 days and the nestling period is about 50 days.
Gallery
Click on photo for larger image
Immature
Photo © by Fiscalshrike
Serengeti National Park, Tanzania, November 2011
References
- Gibbon, G. 2002. Roberts' Multimedia Birds of Southern Africa: Version 3. John Voelcker Bird Book Fund. www.sabirding.co.za
- Oregon Zoo Animals: Augur Buzzard
- Thread in the Taxonomy Forum discussing the relationships of Archer's Buzzard and Augur Buzzard
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2018. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2018. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved January 2017)
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2021) Augur Buzzard. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 15 June 2021 from https://www.birdforum.net/wiki/Augur_Buzzard
