Buzzard diet. (1 Viewer)

[s. james]

Saw a buzzard making a kill yesterday for the first time ever. However I have seen them in the past eating what must have been recently killed juv. rabbits.

The buzzard was sitting in a tall tree above an area of grassland/marsh when it suddenly swooped down, twisted in mid air and disappeared into the vegetation. It emerged a moment later with a prey item- I was too far away to identify this but I suspect it may have been a snipe, as I had heard snipe alarm calls as the buzzard made it's descent.

I would be interested in what prey items birders have actually seen a buzzard capture?

 

[Tri-Counties Birder]

A Buzzard taking live birds is very unusual, so I would suspect it wasn't a Snipe.

The Buzzard diet largely consists of Rabbits, invertebrates, and carrion.

 

[Mabel]

Earthworms are a major part, aren't they? Even though they can and do take much larger prey.

 

[Capercaillie71]

Buzzards are great opportunists, which is why they are so successful. They will eat whatever they can manage to catch or scavenge. Invertebrates can form a big part of their diet, as can carrion. In continental Europe, voles are the main prey item, while here in north-east Scotland, some pairs specialise in killing young crows and rooks in the breeding season - I have seen a buzzard's nest littered with rook wings. I have watched a buzzard attempt to catch a red-legged partridge, although the partridge escaped by flying into a tree.

I read a paper that suggested that buzzards lay fewer eggs where mammalian prey is scarce and they are forced to feed more on birds, which suggests that birds are not their optimal prey.

 

[mike from ebbw]

I saw one really struggling the other week trying to subdue an adult rabbit.Whether it was sucessful i dont know (it was at the side of the dual carriageway).I have seen them chase woodpigeon but they have little chance of getting one of those i would think.Also a good few years back i witnessed a buzzard drop down into the grass and catch something.It came up but was struggling to hold it.It dropped it and I went over to investigate.It turned out to be a full grown Stoat!You could see the small needlepoint holes on it from the talons but whether the bird or the fall killed it i dont know.

 

[s. james]

Interesting! There are no voles in Northern Ireland (although the bank(?) vole has been introduced to the SW of Ireland) and as these are always mentioned in books as prey for all manner of raptors I sometimes wonder what our predators eat! We only have wood mouse, house mouse, pygmy shrew and brown rat as regards small mammals.

Birds Britannica by Mark Cocker and Richard Mabey (an excellent book I'd advise anyone to get it!) states, "While it (Buteo buteo) will take fesh roadkills, it can easily strike down its own prey as large as adult rabbits, crows, pigeons, coot and duck."

Thanks for all the replies!

 

[joannec]

I saw a flying buzzard with a small rabbit in its talons. It landed in a grass field to eat it and was soon approached by 2 magpies and 2 jackdaws. They really hasseled the buzzard, he flew off with it, landed further away and on and on. Again and again the corvids kept on at him but I think he managed to keep it all to himself, not without difficulty though.

Joanne

 

[pe'rigin]

I've seen a Buzzard kill a Moorhen, which it caught just on the fringe of a reedbed.

They are capable of catching ground birds, but I suspect that being a tad lazy they still prefer the motorist to provide their lunch.

 

[luke]

i watched a rather bold (or hungry) buzzard yesturday dive bomb a tree with crows and wood pigeons in it, the buzzard flushed all the birds out of the tree and breifly gave chase but quickly gave up. interesting to watch though.

 

[talon_dfa]

I have been fortunate to see wild Buteos take prey on several occasions...

Red-tail - voles (Microtus), field mice (Peromyscus), cotton rat (Sigmodon), snakes (black, gopher & unknown) and bird (goldfinch on the wing).

Red-shoulder - snake (unkown).

Swainson's - voles, field mice and insects.

Broad-wing - insects (on the wing).

Ferruginous - missed a jack rabbit.