The common buzzard is one of the most common birds of prey among us, which many have seen and called anything but not a buzzard.
If you have seen in Central Russia a large, larger than a crow, dark bird of prey sitting on wires by the side of the road, on the top of a pole or birch tree so that everyone around can see it, or hovering over a field with a shrill cry of "mmmice!!!" then 99% it was a buzzard, not an eagle, hawk or falcon. Even if it was winter, then most likely you saw a shaggy-legged buzzard, in another way-a winter buzzard.
The buzzard differs from the hawk in the color of its eyes and the lack of complexes on the topic that it can also be seen! Hawks have bright orange eyes, and they tend to hide from potential prey, so, most often, the hawk can be seen when it attacks the victim or missed and tries to hide from the screaming crows that unmask it.
And the buzzard hunts mice, it needs a large open space and an overview, so it sits down or flies so that it can see everything itself, and, accordingly, everyone sees it, except for mice. The eyes of the buzzard are light gray-brown. They are not yellow or orange. And crows usually don't pay attention to buzzards, because buzzards don't eat crows, and they know about it.
The buzzard differs from the falcon in its broad wings and eye color. Falcons have very large eyes relative to the size of the head and are dark, almost black in color. Of course, there are much more differences, but these are the main visual ones that are noticeable in the first place.
The buzzard differs from the kite in the shape of its tail. In kites, the tail has a "fork" notch at the end, and in buzzards, the edge of the tail is smooth with a slightly smooth arc.
Buzzards are completely safe for pets, if we are not talking about rodents, of course, do not attack pigeons and chickens. Chicken, however, can catch if he gets an unattended chicken. In nature, buzzards hunt rodents and build huge comfortable nests, which then become excellent homes for many species of owls and falcons. Don't hurt the buzzards, they're great birds, even if they're a bit of a fool.
This buzzard is a fool, because he did not fly, like the others, to the south of Russia or to Africa. They usually do. On the other hand, he is not very stupid, because he did not fly away with the clear purpose of staying in the territory that he will declare his nest in the spring, and he will not have to try to find a free place to settle and raise children.
This is a good strategy, but only if suddenly in winter it does not fill up everything with snow and does not hide the mice so deeply that only foxes can get to the bottom. It was because of the problems with hunting that the buzzard got into our trap. We will release him away from the airport, where he will orient himself and decide whether to fly to Krasnodar and further or buy a shovel and start digging mice here.
#buzzard #animalrescue #wildlife