Common Buzzard

Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo) is a broad-winged, short-tailed raptor whose plumage varies greatly from pale to dark brown, usually with a barred tail. Body shape, bill structure, plumage pattern and voice provide the strongest field characters. Age, sex and season may alter its appearance, so identification should combine several features and careful direct field comparisons with similar species in the same habitat (Wikipedia, general species account).

It uses woodland edges and open country, soaring or waiting on a perch before taking small mammals, birds, reptiles and carrion; northern and eastern populations are migratory. Its movements and social behaviour vary through the year, with breeding birds generally more dispersed and non-breeding birds gathering where food is concentrated. Japanese records place it within the country's documented avifauna as a resident, migrant or visitor (Wikipedia, general species account; Wildlife of Japan occurrence records).