page_title: Common buzzard
section_title: Nesting territories and density
hierarchical_section_title: Common buzzard / Breeding / Nesting territories and density
caption_attribution_description: Three Buzzards Buteo buteo having a fight, Azores
context_page_description: The common buzzard is a medium-to-large bird of prey which has a large range. A member of the genus Buteo, it is a member of the family Accipitridae. The species lives in most of Europe and extends its breeding range across the Palearctic as far as the Russian Far East, northwestern China and northwestern Mongolia Over much of its range, it is a year-round resident. However, buzzards from the colder parts of the Northern Hemisphere as well as those that breed in the eastern part of their range typically migrate south for the northern winter, many culminating their journey as far as South Africa. The common buzzard is an opportunistic predator that can take a wide variety of prey, but it feeds mostly on small mammals, especially rodents such as voles. It typically hunts from a perch. Like most accipitrid birds of prey, it builds a nest, typically in trees in this species, and is a devoted parent to a relatively small brood of young. The common buzzard appears to be the most common diurnal raptor in Europe, as estimates of its total global population run well into the millions.
context_section_description: Home ranges of common buzzards are generally 0.5 to 2 km² (0.19 to 0.77 sq mi). The size of breeding territory seem to be generally correlated with food supply. In a German study, the range was 0.8 to 1.8 km² (0.31 to 0.69 sq mi) with an average of 1.26 km² (0.49 sq mi). Some of the lowest pair densities of common buzzards seem to come from Russia. For instance, in Kerzhenets Nature Reserve, the recorded density was 0.6 pairs per 100 km² (39 sq mi) and the average distance of nearest neighbors was 3.8 km (2.4 mi). The Snowdonia region of northern Wales held a pair per 9.7 km² (3.7 sq mi) with a mean nearest neighbor distance of 1.95 km (1.21 mi); in adjacent Migneint, pair occurrence was 7.2 km² (2.8 sq mi), with a mean distance of 1.53 km (0.95 mi). In the Teno massif of the Canary Islands, the average density was estimated as 23 pairs per 100 km² (39 sq mi), similar to that of a middling continental population. On another set of islands, on Crete the density of pairs was lower at 5.7 pairs per 100 km² (39 sq mi); here buzzards tend to have an irregular distribution, some in lower intensity harvest olive groves but their occurrence actually more common in agricultural than natural areas. In the Italian Alps, it was recorded in 1993–96 that there were from 28 to 30 pairs per 100 km² (39 sq mi). In central Italy, density average was lower at 19.74 pairs per 100 km² (39 sq mi). Higher density areas are known than those above. Two areas of the Midlands of England showed occupancies of 81 and 22 territorial pairs per 100 km² (39 sq mi). High buzzard densities there were associated with high proportions of unimproved pasture and mature woodland within the estimated territories. Similarly high densities of common buzzards were estimated in central Slovakia using two different methods, here indicating densities of 96 to 129 pairs per 100 km² (39 sq mi). Despite claims from the study of the English midlands were the highest known territory density for the species, a number ranging from 32 to 51 pairs in wooded area of merely 22 km² (8.5 sq mi) in Czech Republic seems to surely exceed even those densities. The Czech study hypothesized that fragmentation of forest in human management of lands for wild sheep and deer, creating exceptional concentrations of prey such as voles, and lack of appropriate habitat in surrounding regions for the exceptionally high density.
  Common buzzards maintain their territories through flight displays. In Europe, territorial behaviour generally starts in February. However, displays are not uncommon throughout year in resident pairs, especially by males, and can elicit similar displays by neighbors. In them, common buzzards generally engage in high circling, spiraling upward on slightly raised wings. Mutual high circling by pairs sometimes go on at length, especially during the period prior to or during breeding season. In mutual displays, a pair may follow each other at 10–50 m (33–164 ft) in level flight. During the mutual displays, the male may engage in exaggerated deep flapping or zig-zag tumbling, apparently in response to the female being too distant. Two or three pairs may circle together at times and as many as 14 individual adults have been recorded over established display sites. Sky-dancing by common buzzards have been recorded in spring and autumn, typically by male but sometimes by female, nearly always with much calling. Their sky-dances are of the rollercoaster type, with upward sweep until they start to stall, but sometimes embellished with loops or rolls at the top. Next in the sky-dance, they dive on more or less closed wings before spreading them and shooting up again, upward sweeps of up to 30 m (98 ft), with dive drops of up to at least 60 m (200 ft). These dances may be repeated in series of 10 to 20. In the climax of the sky dance, the undulations become progressive shallower, often slowing and terminating directly onto a perch. Various other aerial displays include low contour flight or weaving among trees, frequently with deep beats and exaggerated upstrokes which show underwin
caption: A territorial dogfight between three buzzards in the Azores.
exif: {"Image Make": "NIKON CORPORATION", "Image Model": "NIKON D40", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0 (20060914.r.77)  Windows", "Image DateTime": "2012:12:25 14:01:23", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "252", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "958", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "1334", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/1250", "EXIF FNumber": "28/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "200", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2007:05:31 16:47:02", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2007:05:31 16:47:02", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "1/3", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "5", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire", "EXIF FocalLength": "200", "EXIF SubSecTime": "30", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "30", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "30", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1288", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "955", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CVAPattern": "[0, 2, 0, 2, 2, 1, 1, 0]", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "300", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}