Long-legged Buzzard
Long-legged Buzzard (Buteo Rufinus )
The Long-legged Buzzard (Buteo Rufinus ) is a bird of prey of the genus Buteo, the genuine buzzards. He comes in the western North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, in Turkey, the Caucasus Mountains. In Asia, its breeding range extends up to northern India and Mongolia. In the Balkans, its range extends up to Hungary, where it has been present for several years with two to seven breeding pairs. In Austria he is regularly observed in the summer months.
- 2.1 subspecies
- 6.1 Literature
- 6.2 External links
- 6.3 Notes and references
Features
The Buzzard is 57 to 65 centimeters body length and 135 to 160 centimeters wingspan of the largest buzzard the Western Palearctic. Males weigh about 1100 grams, female about 1300 grams. He looks like eagle by its long wings and fingered primaries.
The Latin species name rufinus means " reddish " or " rust " and refers to the color of the light and rust-red morphs. Most head and breast are bright and unmarked contrasting with rust-red belly and pants. Young birds have a bright head, a white chest and an off-white, often incomplete cross- banded tail. The bright primaries are not ties and dark at their tips. They form a distinct contrast to the ceilings of the primaries, which are also dark, and the brown secondaries and their rust-colored ceiling.
Color variations
The Buzzard occurs in three color morphs with many transitional forms. The bright and reddish morphs have a bright rust-colored head, neck and tail; the latter is not ties in adult birds. The head of the young birds is usually very bright, especially in the subspecies B. r. cirtensis. The dark morph has a dark brown head and body, the white tail is crossed by dark transverse bands and has a broad, black-brown terminal band.
Possible confusion
The Buzzard is easy with the Buzzard (Buteo buteo vulpinus ) confused, but which is smaller and narrower wings. It can also be confused with the rough-legged buzzard, which never shows red in plumage.
Voice
The cries of the eagle buzzard sound like that of the common buzzard, but slightly elongated. The Buzzard calls less often than the buzzard. The pervasive Bettelruf of fledged young birds sounds like " kluih ".
Habitat and Distribution
Mountainous and open landscapes, and dry steppes and semi-deserts are used by buzzard habitat. With good food availability it also occurs as a breeding bird to in real deserts. However, he also breeds in forested low mountains of the Balkan peninsula.
Conditions at the habitat is open areas in search of food and suitable nesting sites. In Turkey, this can be up to 2700 meters high.
The Buzzard is common in the western North Africa, Greece, Turkey, and in the center of the Arabian Peninsula, the Caucasus and Central Asia to northern India. In North Africa, the breeding range extends to the Algerian and Mauritanian northwestern Sahara. As seasonal breeding bird he comes in the arid regions of the southern Palearctic from Greece through the Caucasus to Mongolia.
Russian eagle buzzards and the Balkans are migratory birds. Your wintering area is located in Northern Africa, some they migrate to the Sahel. However winters have been observed in Hungary and Greece. In Turkey, the Middle East and North Africa eagles buzzards are resident birds. The train in the fall takes place in September and October, the spring migration in March and April.
Subspecies
Apart from the Eurasian nominate B. r. rufinus there are the smaller subspecies B. r. cirtensis that occurs in North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. The two subspecies inhabit different altitudes, but in overlapping areas of the areas it comes to hybrids. The population of Socotra was raised in 2010 for the independent nature Buteo socotraensis.
Reproduction
His Horst builds the buzzard like on elevated places from which he can observe the local area. This rock walls, however, are preferred in the Balkans, the Ukraine and trees. In treeless areas such as the southern Russian and Kazakh steppes, the nest is built on the ground and often on electricity pylons.
The nest consists of two to five, usually of two or three eggs, which have a bright color and brownish spots. They are placed in the first half of April. After fledging period 45-52 days, the young birds are fledged in late June.
Food
Small to medium-sized mammals make up the bulk of the diet. Typical prey are voles, hamsters, ground squirrels or even reptiles and amphibians, and insects, eg Locusts. Add to wintering areas it also feeds on carrion.
His prey he catches from segelndem search flight or elevated residences, sometimes on foot. Unlike other buzzards the buzzard never shakes practical. However, it can "stand" on the wind conditions a longer time in the air.
Stock
The European breeding area has been significantly reduced during the 20th century, especially in the European part of Russia and Ukraine due to habitat destruction. Since the 1970s, although there is hardly any area losses, however, go into Russia, the populations steadily. The decisive factor is especially the intensification of land use and the destruction of the few suitable nest sites in the open landscapes of Eastern Europe. East of the Volga and on the southwestern edge of the breeding grounds to take the stocks and it comes to area expansion. The first breeding records for Hungary, there were 1992. Since 1994 eagle nest of buzzards there regularly.
The European population is estimated at 8700-15000 breeding pairs. The major deposits are found in Turkey, where at the beginning of the 21st century were brooding about 6000-9000 pairs, as well as in Azerbaijan and Russia.