Saturday 3 January 2015

Rough-legged Buzzard (Buteo lagopus)

OTHER NAMES: Rough-legged Hawk
Latin Etymology: Buteo ("buzzard") lagopus ("hare foot")


Rough-Legged Buzzard (Buteo lagopusat Stone Creek, East Yorkshire - November 2023

Featured Subspecies: Buteo lagopus lagopus
Weight: 600-1600g  /  Length: 50-63cm  /  Wingspan: 120-150cm
NO UK STATUS / IUCN Red List: Least Concern

Probably the scarcest of what are commonly considered "British" raptors, the Rough-legged Buzzard is an irruptive species that breeds in Arctic tundra and taiga which primarily feeds on small mammals, and a poor winter for such species will send them migrating to other locations such as the UK. One of the larger buteo species, it's distinct markings can differentiate it in the field from Common Buzzard. The only Buteo to truely hover, it's hunting technique is reminiscent of the much smaller Common kestrel.

Related Species:
Order: Accipitriformes
Family: Accipitridae
Genus: Buteo
Subspecies: B. l. lagopus, B. l. sanctijohannis, B. l. kamtchatkensis

 - Sighting Locations -
UNITED KINGDOM - Very rare Wintering species which arrives on an irruption pattern (10-150 birds in influx years)
 - A single individual seen distantly Holme Fen in January 2015.  Another at Stone Creek in November 2023. 

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