Common Buzzard with white tail and UTC's. (1 Viewer)

[KenM]

Most Common Buzzards I see London/Essex are usually of a dark persuasion to include the tail and UTC's, this one (I was fortunate with the light) showed not just a contrasting white tail with dark terminal band, but also white UTC's. Have to assume that this is not an uncommon feature?....if so I'll have to get out more.

Cheers

 

[Nutcracker]

Looks pretty normal to me. And certainly not got a white tail, nothing like an adult WTEagle :king:

 

[KenM]

Looks pretty normal to me. And certainly not got a white tail, nothing like an adult WTEagle :king:

It might not be “Snow White” Nutty...however what colour would you describe it as then, cos I ain’t seen one this pale before hereabouts? :eek!:

 

[Sangahyando]

Looks pretty normal to me. And certainly not got a white tail, nothing like an adult WTEagle :king:

The body and wings look normal, but the tail seems pretty extreme to me, particularly seeing as the rest of the bird is a "standard" CB (both in proportions and pattern/colour). Maybe it's a just lighting issue (I'm on a phone right now), but I'd expect a tail like this to belong a much paler individual.

 

[Nutcracker]

I'd say 'pale with a dark subterminal band' :t:

 

[gerdwichers8]

Tail-and flightfeathers in Common Buzzards are 'white-and-dark-patterned' in any case.
This buzzard shows still a pale 'U' to its chest. As in dark morph Steppe Buzzard; this pale 'U' would have been absent. As a rule of thumb: a white vent in the WP implies an intermediate or pale morph or a species with a whitish underbody in just any medium-sized raptor.
Contrarywise then, the absence of white undertail coverts in the WP, implies a dark morph or just a uniform dark raptor
..so this bird will be left intermediate in its morph somehow.

 

[Jean FRANCOIS]

Common Buzzard adult agreed.
Jean