Trossachs Bird of Prey Trail, The Trossachs Stirling, United KingdomBuzzardhttp://birdofpreytrail.com05:05 06-Oct-2011
BUZZARD When is it here? All year round How easy is it to see? Fairly easy. Buzzards are the commonest birds of prey on the Trail and are the bird you’re most likely to see from the road.
How big is it? Medium-sized raptor. Buzzards have a 5 foot wingspan.
What colour is it? Buzzards can vary quite a lot. Most are brown with a whitish ‘bib’, but look out for chestnut brown pale varieties. Males and females are similar in colour.
What might I confuse it with? Red kites and ospreys.
Buzzards are about the same size as red kites, and they can be difficult to tell apart. Kites have a distinctive forked tail and have white and black patches under the wings. They’re also much more acrobatic than buzzards, which always appear to work quite hard to stay in the air! The best way to tell the two species apart is to visit Argaty and see them both in the air at the same time.
Ospreys are a bit larger than buzzards, and are also much whiter in colour, with a distinctive black eye-stripe.
Where are they? They’re found right around the Trail.
What are they normally doing? Buzzards are very adaptable birds who live in a variety of habitats. You’ll often see them sitting on fence posts at the side of the road looking for insects or small rodents that have been hit by cars.
Other places you might see a buzzard include:
• In fields ‘paddling’ the ground with their feet to encourage worms to the surface • Sitting on telegraph poles or right at the top of trees • Soaring high overhead (they’re often confused with golden eagles!) • Swooping over hedgerows close to the road. This can be quite startling! • Hovering – they’re not quite as elegant as kestrels, but they can do it! |