The
Common Buzzard is a medium to large bird of prey, whose range
covers most of Europe and extends into Asia. It is typically
between 51-57 cm in length with a 110 to 130 cm wingspan, making
it a medium-sized raptor. There are around 40,000 breeding pairs
in Britain.
It
breeds in woodland, usually on the fringes, but favours hunting
over open land, which makes this location particularly suitable
for buzzards. It eats mainly small mammals, and will come to
carrion. A great opportunist, it adapts well to a varied diet
of pheasant, rabbit, other small mammals, snakes and lizards
and can often be seen walking over recently ploughed fields
looking for worms and insects.
Buzzards
do not normally form flocks, but several may be seen together
on migration or in good habitat. Though a rare occurrence as
many as 20 buzzards can been spotted in one field area, approx
30 meters apart often picking for worms and maggots, so cannot
be classed as a flock in the general term, consisting of those
males (and females) without a mate or territory.
They
are normally fiercely territorial, and, though rare, fights
do break out if one strays on another pair's territory, but
dominant displays of aggression will normally see off the interloper.
Pairs mate for life. To attract a mate (or impress his existing
mate) the male performs a ritual aerial display before the beginning
of Spring. This spectacular display is known as 'the roller
coaster'. He will rise high up in the sky, to turn and plummet
downward, in a spiral, twisting and turning as he comes down.
To then rise immediately upward to repeat the exercise.
