Augur Buzzard - BirdForum Opus

Photo © by John Dempsey
Spitzkoppen Namibia, Oct 2004

Includes Archer's Buzzard

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.

Variation

The subspecies archeri is described as having Chestnut underside but is somewhat variable.

Distribution

East Africa: Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, and eastern Zaire to Namibia and Zimbabwe.

Taxonomy

This species is closely related to Jackal Buzzard B. rufofuscus.

Subspecies

Two subspecies are recognized^[4].

• B. a. augur:

• Highlands of Ethiopia to Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia

• B. a. archeri:

• Highlands of northern Somalia

Habitat

Prefers mountainous and hilly habitats, but also found in open woodland, savanna and grassland.

Behaviour

Photo © by steinn
Kifufu, Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, April 2000

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

• 

  Juvenile
  Photo © by mikemik
  Ngorongoro, Tanzania, May 2018

• 

  Immature
  Photo © by Fiscalshrike
  Serengeti National Park, Tanzania, November 2011

References

1. Gibbon, G. 2002. Roberts' Multimedia Birds of Southern Africa: Version 3. John Voelcker Bird Book Fund. www.sabirding.co.za
2. Oregon Zoo Animals: Augur Buzzard
3. Thread in the Taxonomy Forum discussing the relationships of Archer's Buzzard and Augur Buzzard
4. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2022. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2022. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
5. Gill, F, D Donsker, and P Rasmussen (Eds). 2022. IOC World Bird List (v 12.2) DRAFT. Doi 10.14344/IOC.ML.12.2. http://www.worldbirdnames.org/
6. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved January 2017)

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Augur Buzzard. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 17 March 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Augur_Buzzard

External Links

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