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Common Buzzard size relative to Golden Eagle (1 Viewer)

Biancone

to err is human
The size of Common Buzzard relative to Golden Eagle very often arises when discussing the identification of a "large" raptor in flight in UK uplands. A couple of weeks ago I was photographing a young Golden Eagle (in the northern Apennines, Italy), very distant and veiled in a haze of humidity, and by chance captured an image of a Common Buzzard as it passed immediately in front of the eagle while diving at it, encouraging it to move on. I thought it might be of interest because it demonstrates unambiguously what people mean when they describe an eagle as "massive" in relation to a buzzard! Perhaps the effect is slightly exaggerated because the Buteo is a little foreshortened whereas the Aquila is directly transverse, but the buzzard is also a little closer than the eagle. I know it's technically a poor image, and very heavily cropped, but most similar examples I've seen show the buzzard to one side or the other so its spatial location relative to the eagle is uncertain.
Brian
 

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Interesting to see, Brian, and a useful pic for comparison, thanks for posting.

I didn't realise just how much the size difference was... not that we get many Golden Eagles in Tottenham ;)
 
Thanks for the feedback!

...I didn't realise just how much the size difference was... not that we get many Golden Eagles in Tottenham ;)

Not many in my patch in the Apennines either, just the occasional prospecting immature; be nice to think they might develop a local population but I suspect food would be limiting.
 
I have had a chance to see Golden Eagle up-close in captivity, and I have seen a Turkey Vulture up-close in the wild, and both are big f'ing birds with wingspans that just boggle the mind. :eek!:

You just can't appreciate their size while they are flying with the sky as their background. You need to see them on the ground or near another smaller bird you know to appreciate the scales involved.
 
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