Common Buzzard (Eurasian Buzzard)

The Common Buzzard is a medium-to-large raptor with a stout body, broad rounded wings, and a short tail. Known for soaring in wide circles over open fields, it exhibits highly variable plumage ranging from pale cream to dark chocolate brown, often featuring mottled underparts and barred flight feathers.

Rich warm brown and creamy white mottling with distinct irregular horizontal barring and a pale tip, highly characteristic of the variable plumage of a European raptor

Pennaceous upper portion with tightly interlocked barbs and barbicels, transitioning into a plumulaceous (fluffy, downy) base near the calamus

Thin, flexible, light brown central rachis with densely packed, uniform barbs extending outward at a moderate angle

Smooth and firm along the upper pennaceous vane, becoming soft and fluffy at the base where the plumulaceous barbs are unhooked

Body contour feather, likely from the upper wing coverts or mantle region, determined by the broad rounded shape and distinct patterned barring

Distinctive warm brown and creamy white mottled pattern with rounded contour shape and soft downy base, typical of Accipitridae body coverts

Open countryside, farmlands, woodlands, moorlands, and forest edges where trees for nesting are adjacent to open hunting grounds

Widespread throughout Europe and parts of Asia, year-round resident in the UK including Surrey, with northern populations migrating south for winter

Apex avian predator playing a crucial role in controlling small mammal populations such as voles, mice, and rabbits

Eurasian Sparrowhawk or Honey Buzzard, distinguished by different barring patterns and wing-to-body proportions

Despite the name, European buzzards are true hawks of the genus Buteo, unlike North American turkey vultures which are often colloquially called buzzards

Protected by law in the UK; historically persecuted by gamekeepers due to perceived threats to game birds, but now appreciated as a symbol of recovering raptor populations

Look near woodland edges and farmland fence posts where raptors perch or molt during late spring and summer months

Good condition, intact vane with minimal wear and clean barbs, showing no obvious fault bars or parasite damage

Found on farmland in surrey, England