Raptor in Landour - which one is it? Buzzard or Eagle?
WildFilmsIndia
2014-08-12
Views 39
Thanks to Nikhil Devasar, we're now sure that this is a Common Buzzard!
Abhishek Gulshan, while not wanting to question this more authoritative identification, suggests that "somehow this looks like a Himalayan Buzzard to me. I could be wrong. I'll confirm soon but the facial mast and other things match that of a Himalayan Buzzard. The distribution also explains things."
Raptor in Landour. Birders out there - help us identify this bird of prey! Rishad - please confirm. Is this a Mountain Hawk Eagle in winter pelage or something altogether different? Seen in January 2013 at 7800 feet. altitude.
The Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo) is a medium to large bird of prey, whose range covers most of Europe and extends into Asia. It is usually resident all year, except in the coldest parts of its range, and in the case of one subspecies.
The Common Buzzard measures between 40 and 58 cm (16 and 23 in) in length with a 109--136 cm (43--54 in) wingspan and a body mass of 427--1,364 g (0.94--3.01 lb), making it a medium-sized raptor.
This broad-winged raptor has a wide variety of plumages, and in Europe can be confused with the similar Rough-legged Buzzard (Buteo lagopus) and the only distantly related European Honey Buzzard (Pernis apivorus), which mimics the Common Buzzard's plumage for a degree of protection from Northern Goshawks. The plumage can vary in Britain from almost pure white to black, but is usually shades of brown, with a pale 'necklace' of feathers.
The Common Buzzard breeds in woodlands, usually on the fringes, but favours hunting over open land. 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 to medium mammals, snakes and lizards, and can often be seen walking over recently ploughed fields looking for worms and insects. The birds have incredible strength and are therefore able to pick up food of all weights.
Buzzards do not normally form flocks, but several may be seen together on migration or in good habitat. The Victorian writer on Dartmoor, William Crossing, noted he had on occasions seen flocks of 15 or more at some places. Though a rare occurrence, as many as 20 buzzards can be spotted in one field area, approximately 30 metres apart, so cannot be classed as a flock in the general sense, consisting of birds without a mate or territory. They are fiercely territorial, and, though rare, fights do break out if one strays onto 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. He then rises immediately upward to repeat the exercise.
The call is a plaintive peea-ay, similar to a cat's meow.
Source - Wikipedia
Buzzards are smaller than golden eagles but just as formidable as predators. These imposing hunters drop down on rabbits and small mammals from slow or hovering flight or from a perch. Having snatched their prey in powerful talons, they nearly always make their kill on the ground.
In recent years, the population of British buzzards has exploded, and now thrives in areas where there were once only a few, such as Cheshire, Northamptonshire and the Lothians. They inhabit forests and areas of scattered woodland. During the breeding season, buzzards perform spectacular aerial displays, circling high in the sky before tumbling down towards the ground.
Source - www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Common_Buzzard
This footage is part of the professionally-shot broadcast stock footage archive of Wilderness Films India Ltd., the largest collection of HD imagery from South Asia. The Wilderness Films India collection comprises of tens of thousands of hours of high quality broadcast imagery, mostly shot on HDCAM 1080i High Definition, HDV and XDCAM. Write to us for licensing this footage on a broadcast format, for use in your production! We are happy to be commissioned to film for you or else provide you with broadcast crewing and production solutions across South Asia. We pride ourselves in bringing the best of India and South Asia to the world... Reach us at wfi @ vsnl.com and [email protected].
Abhishek Gulshan, while not wanting to question this more authoritative identification, suggests that "somehow this looks like a Himalayan Buzzard to me. I could be wrong. I'll confirm soon but the facial mast and other things match that of a Himalayan Buzzard. The distribution also explains things."
Raptor in Landour. Birders out there - help us identify this bird of prey! Rishad - please confirm. Is this a Mountain Hawk Eagle in winter pelage or something altogether different? Seen in January 2013 at 7800 feet. altitude.
The Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo) is a medium to large bird of prey, whose range covers most of Europe and extends into Asia. It is usually resident all year, except in the coldest parts of its range, and in the case of one subspecies.
The Common Buzzard measures between 40 and 58 cm (16 and 23 in) in length with a 109--136 cm (43--54 in) wingspan and a body mass of 427--1,364 g (0.94--3.01 lb), making it a medium-sized raptor.
This broad-winged raptor has a wide variety of plumages, and in Europe can be confused with the similar Rough-legged Buzzard (Buteo lagopus) and the only distantly related European Honey Buzzard (Pernis apivorus), which mimics the Common Buzzard's plumage for a degree of protection from Northern Goshawks. The plumage can vary in Britain from almost pure white to black, but is usually shades of brown, with a pale 'necklace' of feathers.
The Common Buzzard breeds in woodlands, usually on the fringes, but favours hunting over open land. 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 to medium mammals, snakes and lizards, and can often be seen walking over recently ploughed fields looking for worms and insects. The birds have incredible strength and are therefore able to pick up food of all weights.
Buzzards do not normally form flocks, but several may be seen together on migration or in good habitat. The Victorian writer on Dartmoor, William Crossing, noted he had on occasions seen flocks of 15 or more at some places. Though a rare occurrence, as many as 20 buzzards can be spotted in one field area, approximately 30 metres apart, so cannot be classed as a flock in the general sense, consisting of birds without a mate or territory. They are fiercely territorial, and, though rare, fights do break out if one strays onto 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. He then rises immediately upward to repeat the exercise.
The call is a plaintive peea-ay, similar to a cat's meow.
Source - Wikipedia
Buzzards are smaller than golden eagles but just as formidable as predators. These imposing hunters drop down on rabbits and small mammals from slow or hovering flight or from a perch. Having snatched their prey in powerful talons, they nearly always make their kill on the ground.
In recent years, the population of British buzzards has exploded, and now thrives in areas where there were once only a few, such as Cheshire, Northamptonshire and the Lothians. They inhabit forests and areas of scattered woodland. During the breeding season, buzzards perform spectacular aerial displays, circling high in the sky before tumbling down towards the ground.
Source - www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Common_Buzzard
This footage is part of the professionally-shot broadcast stock footage archive of Wilderness Films India Ltd., the largest collection of HD imagery from South Asia. The Wilderness Films India collection comprises of tens of thousands of hours of high quality broadcast imagery, mostly shot on HDCAM 1080i High Definition, HDV and XDCAM. Write to us for licensing this footage on a broadcast format, for use in your production! We are happy to be commissioned to film for you or else provide you with broadcast crewing and production solutions across South Asia. We pride ourselves in bringing the best of India and South Asia to the world... Reach us at wfi @ vsnl.com and [email protected].
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