Grey-faced Buzzard

Grey-faced Buzzard (Butastur indicus) is a small Asian raptor with a grey head and breast, white throat, dark moustache stripes and barred pale underparts. 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 breeds in Japan, Korea and nearby mainland Asia, winters in Southeast Asia and hunts lizards, frogs, large insects and small mammals over woodland edges and open ground. 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).