8 interesting facts about buzzards
- Buzzard mainly resides in the warmer climates of European countries, particularly in Britain, Germany and France.
- A great opportunist, it adapts well to a varied diet of pheasant, rabbit, other small mammals, snakes and lizards and can often be seen walking over recently ploughed fields looking for worms and insects.
- Being birds of prey, the buzzards hunt for food. They have excellent eyesight and hunt during the day. They attack the prey with their hooked beak and sharp talons, which are quite lethal.
- Buzzards mostly tend to hunt alone, though it is not unusual to find them hunting in pairs. While these birds are not known to be scavengers by nature, they eat carrion occasionally.
- The bird is known to nest in a variety of environments that can range from open hills and farmlands to forest clearings and rocky environments.
- These birds remain very independent throughout their life. They are not known to form flocks like the other birds. However, they migrate together and even live in the same area. They rarely fight among themselves, except when one bird trespasses on other’s territory.
- Woodland areas are seen as ideal for buzzards to breed. To attract the female, the male bird performs an intricate aerial ritual and notifies that there is a nest nearby.
- Buzzards have a reputation of being devoted partners, as they mate for life. Both the parents care for the young ones, during the first six to eight weeks of birth.
