Strange Buzzard Behaviour (1 Viewer)

Hi all,
Firstly, to my shame I know next to nothing about birds, but do get a lot of enjoyment from just watching and listening to them.
Which brings me to the reason I have just joined the site....
While out today with my 11 year old daughter Beth on the chalk downs of Salisbury plain, we spotted a Buzzard behaving very oddly, it was gliding in the usual way for 5 or so metres, then it would tuck its wings in and turn upside down whilst emitting a strange howl, after another few metres it would right itself and then repeat the same thing, this went on for around 30 seconds.
Is this common, is this some type of mating ritual, am I imagining things ???
As I said, I know very little about birds, but this was fascinating to see.
Thank you for reading, Steve.

Welcome to Birdforum Steve.. If it was flipping upside down then it was a Raven, same size, somewhat different shape and very different colour.

Cheers,

Andy

Oops !!

Andrew Rowlands said:

Welcome to Birdforum Steve.. If it was flipping upside down then it was a Raven, same size, somewhat different shape and very different colour.

Cheers,

Andy

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Hi Andy, thank you for the very quick reply.

Like I said I know little about birds |:$|
So if it was a Raven, why do they do that ?
Regards, Steve.

I'm really not sure but many of the crow family members seem to have a sense of fun - hanging under a wire with one foot, drooping off, returning to the wire and repeating, for instance. In this case it may be a way of showing how clever they are or how strong a flyer they are, possibly as part of some territorial display or pair bonding.

Perhaps someone with better knowledge in this field might chime in with another answer or theory.

EDIT: this is one of those odd bird behaviours that always brings a smile to my face (rare event).

I've just come back from a weeks holiday in south Devon. We watched Ravens doing exactly that. They would fly off over the edge of the sea cliffs, cronking as they went and then fold their wings, turn upside down momentarily and then plunge for 50' or more straight down before flattening out and flying off, still cronking loudly. Cannot help but think they just are having fun.

Dave

I'm not imagining things then....

d.steeley said:

I've just come back from a weeks holiday in south Devon. We watched Ravens doing exactly that. They would fly off over the edge of the sea cliffs, cronking as they went and then fold their wings, turn upside down momentarily and then plunge for 50' or more straight down before flattening out and flying off, still cronking loudly. Cannot help but think they just are having fun.

Dave

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Thanks Dave,
That seems to have clinched it.
Pretty cool behaviour, you would have thought that I would have seen it before.
A really great spectacle to see. |>|