Augur buzzard

Last updated

Augur buzzard
Augur buzzard (Buteo augur).jpg
Ethiopia
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Accipitriformes
Family: Accipitridae
Genus: Buteo
Species:
B. augur
Binomial name
Buteo augur
(Rüppell, 1836)
Augur Buzzard ebird data map.png
Global map of eBird reports
  Year-Round Range
  Summer Range
  Winter Range

The augur buzzard (Buteo augur) is a fairly large African bird of prey. This species is distinct in typical adult plumage for its blackish back, whitish underside and orange-red tail, while juvenile augur buzzards are generally rather brown in colour; however a dark morph is known, which causes the bird's entire body to become darker. This member of the Buteo genus is distributed in several parts of the central and southern Africa, normally being found from Ethiopia to southern Angola and central Namibia. It is resident and non-migratory throughout its range. This is a species of mountains (most typically at about 2,000 m (6,600 ft) altitude, but up to 5,000 m (16,000 ft)), and adjacent savannah and grassland. This is a typical buteonine raptor, being a generalist predator which tends to prefer small mammals supplemented by reptiles and birds among various prey items. [2]

Contents

Taxonomy

The taxonomy on this species is not settled, with some taxonomists considering this species, the jackal buzzard, and Archer's buzzard to be within the same superspecies. As noted by taxonomists, each species is fairly distinct, having different calls and variations in plumage. While the augur and jackal have rarely been considered actually conspecific, the Archer's buzzard is sometimes considered improbably as a subspecies of the jackal buzzard despite a number of outward distinctions and having a rather allopatric and restricted distribution. The three species may be classified as belonging to a species complex. [3] [4] [5] [6] In 2022, the International Ornithological Congress tentatively assigned Archer's buzzard as being a subspecies of the augur buzzard (Buteo augur archeri). However, it may simply represent a color morph. [7]

Presently, two subspecies are recognized: [7]

Description

An augur buzzard in Serengeti National Park. Augurbussard-Serengeti.jpg
An augur buzzard in Serengeti National Park.

Augur buzzards are one of two larger Buteo species native to Africa, alongside their cousins, the similarly sized jackal buzzard. Adults measure about 48 to 60 cm (19 to 24 in) with a large wingspan of 120 to 150 cm (3 ft 11 in to 4 ft 11 in). [2] Males weigh from 880 to 1,160 g (1.94 to 2.56 lb) while females weigh from 1,100 to 1,330 g (2.43 to 2.93 lb). [8] A small sample of 5 augur buzzard weighed an average of 973.2 g (2.146 lb) while 22 birds averaged 131.5 cm (4 ft 4 in) in wingspan. [9] The adult augur buzzard is strikingly plumaged and essentially unmistakable if seen well. It is an almost black brown above with a rufous tail that stands out strongly in contrast. The primary flight feathers are blackish and the secondaries off-white, both barred with black. Below the chin and around the throat is mainly white, and the rest of the underparts and the underwing coverts are rich rufous. The flight feathers from below are white, tipped with black to form a dark trailing edge to the wing.

The juvenile augur buzzard is mainly brown above and rufous brown below and on the tail. It can be confused with wintering steppe buzzard, but the augur is considerably larger and bulkier with broader wings and a heavier flight style and an unbarred undertail. Although not as dark as the adult on the back and upperwing coverts, it is usually noticeably darker than a juvenile steppe buzzard. The adult augur buzzard has white underparts and underwings. The female has black on the lower throat. Juveniles are brown above and buff below, the underparts later becoming white. Juveniles are similar to juvenile jackal buzzards but are generally much paler below with bolder carpal patches and more clearly barred secondaries and tail. There is a melanistic form of augur buzzard, all black, except for grey and white flight feathers that are barred black and contrast strongly with the black center and a chestnut tail. About 10% of birds are melanistic, but the proportion rises in forested areas with high rainfall to as much as 50% in some areas. A somewhat similar melanistic morph of jackal buzzard is also known and these birds can very hard to distinguish, perhaps only told apart by the stronger barring on the melanistic augur pale flight feathers. Dark morph long-legged buzzards may also be confused for melanistic augur buzzards but are clearly more slender in the wing, less blackish on the body and lack the bold rufous tail. [2] [10]

Range and habitat

Gatamayu Forest - Kenya Augur Buzzard 2.jpg
Gatamayu Forest - Kenya

The augur buzzard is found in eastern and southwestern Africa. Despite its erratic-seeming distribution, it is often common in its range. The augur buzzard is found from eastern Sudan and Ethiopia [11] (also northern Somalia, inhabited by the subspecies B. a. archeri) down through the northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Kenya, parts of Tanzania into Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, western Angola and west-central Namibia. [1] [2] Despite its wide range in southern Africa it appears to only occur in South Africa as a vagrant. [12] The augur buzzard is found in open or light wooded upland areas but can also range into lowland deserts at sea level (such as in Namibia) and some more mountainous, precipitous areas of eastern Africa. They seem to prefer to hunt in elevated savanna grasslands, high moorland, cropland [11] sometimes into open forest or desert edges as well. Augur buzzards in east Africa usually live between 400 and 4,600 m (1,300 and 15,100 ft) elevation but normally occur above 1,500 m (4,900 ft) and have been recorded living at 5,000 m (16,000 ft) in Ethiopia. [2]

Behaviour

Pairs have noisy aerial displays, including outside the breeding season. Their call is quite different from their cousin, the jackal buzzard, and most other birds of prey, being a harsh, resonant crow-like a-kow a-kow a-kow or a-ung a-ung a-ung, drawn out as aerial display escalates into a longer, higher-pitched a-waaa a-waaa a-waaa. [13] Pairs of augur buzzards usually mate for life but some polygamy has been reported in the species. [14] The large (up to 1 m [3 ft 3 in] wide) stick nest is built in a tree or on a crag, and is often reused and enlarged in subsequent seasons. On average two (sometimes only one and rarely three) creamy or bluish white eggs are laid and incubated by the female only, although food is brought to her on the nest by the male. The eggs hatch in about 40 days, and after a further 56–60 days the chicks can attempt flight. At 70 days they become independent of the nest, but young birds may then be seen with the adult pair for some time. As is the case in other tropical raptors, the clutch size is relatively smaller and the reproductive cycle is relatively longer than in related species found in the temperate zones. [2]

The diet of the augur buzzard is quite varied and opportunistic, as is typical of most Buteo species. It catches most of its prey on the ground, either by still-hunting from perch or swooping down from a soaring flight or, occasionally, from a hovering flight. They may also forage on the ground for both insects and small vertebrates. The primary foods for augur buzzards seem to include either small, terrestrial mammals or reptiles, chiefly snakes and lizards. Other prey may include small ground birds (and sometimes the nestlings, fledglings or unwary adults of varied birds), insects, and road-kill. In Zimbabwe, 59% of the diet was reptiles while the remainder was mostly mammalian, led by vlei rats. At one nest site there, lizards made up 35% of the foods and snakes 46%. [15] In Tanzania, the stomach contents of augur buzzards similarly consisted mostly of assorted rat species and lizards. [16] In the above Zimbabwe study, the most often taken reptiles recorded the giant plated lizards and common flat lizards but could extend to larger and more dangerous prey such as Nile monitors (though doubtfully large adults) and highly venomous snakes such as puff adders, night adders and Mozambique spitting cobras. [17] [16] Elsewhere mole-rats may be preferred, such as in Kenya, and these are likely hunted largely from flight as their tendency to stay in the cover of tall grasses makes them difficult to still-hunt. [18] Occasionally larger prey are hunted including francolins, domestic chickens, hares and hyraxes, although other than rare cases mainly the juveniles of these prey types are targeted (especially in the case of Cape hyraxes). [2] [10] [19] [20] [21]

The Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League currently use an augur buzzard named Taima as a live mascot at games. [22]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Common buzzard</span> Species of bird of prey

The common buzzard is a medium-to-large bird of prey which has a large range. It is a member of the genus Buteo in the family Accipitridae. The species lives in most of Europe and extends its breeding range across much of the Palearctic as far as northwestern China, far western Siberia 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 journeying as far as South Africa.

<i>Buteo</i> Genus of birds-of-prey including various buzzards and hawks

Buteo is a genus of medium to fairly large, wide-ranging raptors with a robust body and broad wings. In the Old World, members of this genus are called "buzzards", but "hawk" is used in the New World. As both terms are ambiguous, buteo is sometimes used instead, for example, by the Peregrine Fund.

Buzzard is the common name of several species of birds of prey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rough-legged buzzard</span> Species of bird

The rough-legged buzzard (Europe) or rough-legged hawk is a medium-large bird of prey. It is found in Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America, Europe, and Russia during the breeding season and migrates south for the winter. It was traditionally also known as the rough-legged falcon in such works as John James Audubon's The Birds of America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red-tailed hawk</span> Species of bird

The red-tailed hawk is a bird of prey that breeds throughout most of North America, from the interior of Alaska and northern Canada to as far south as Panama and the West Indies. It is one of the most common members within the genus of Buteo in North America or worldwide. The red-tailed hawk is one of three species colloquially known in the United States as the "chickenhawk", though it rarely preys on standard-sized chickens. The bird is sometimes also referred to as the red-tail for short, when the meaning is clear in context. Red-tailed hawks can acclimate to all the biomes within their range, occurring on the edges of non-ideal habitats such as dense forests and sandy deserts. The red-tailed hawk occupies a wide range of habitats and altitudes, including deserts, grasslands, coniferous and deciduous forests, agricultural fields, and urban areas. Its latitudinal limits fall around the tree line in the subarctic and it is absent from the high Arctic. Generally it favors varied habitats with open woodland, woodland edge and open terrain. It is legally protected in Canada, Mexico, and the United States by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">African hawk-eagle</span> Species of bird

The African hawk-eagle is a large bird of prey. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. This species' feathered legs mark it as a member of the Aquilinae subfamily. The African hawk-eagle breeds in tropical Sub-Saharan Africa. It is a bird of assorted woodland, including both savanna and hilly areas but the tend to occur in woodland that is typically dry. The species tends to be rare in areas where their preferred habitat type is absent. This species builds a stick nest of around 1 m (3.3 ft) across in a large tree. The clutch is generally one or two eggs. The African hawk-eagle is powerfully built and hunts small to medium sized mammals and birds predominantly, occasionally taking reptiles and other prey as well. The call is a shrill kluu-kluu-kluu. The African hawk-eagle is considered a fairly stable species and a species of Least Concern per the IUCN.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lizard buzzard</span> Species of bird

The lizard buzzard, or lizard hawk, is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. It is native to Sub-Saharan Africa. Despite its name, it may be more closely related to the Accipiter hawks than the Buteo buzzards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Long-legged buzzard</span> Species of bird

The long-legged buzzard is a bird of prey found widely in several parts of Eurasia and in North Africa. This species ranges from Southeastern Europe down to East Africa to the northern part of the Indian subcontinent. The long-legged buzzard is a member of the genus Buteo, being one of the larger species therein. This species is simultaneously considered relatively powerful and aggressive for its taxonomic group as well as a relatively sluggish raptor overall. Like most buzzards, it prefers small mammals such as rodents, including gerbils, ground squirrels, voles and rats, also taking reptiles, birds and insects as well as carrion. Adaptable to a variety of habitats, long-legged buzzards may nest on a variety of surfaces, including rocks, cliffs and trees. it is a typical buzzard in its reproductive biology. The long-legged buzzard is widely distributed and appears to be quite stable in population. Therefore, it is considered as Least Concern by the IUCN.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tawny eagle</span> Species of bird

The tawny eagle is a large bird of prey. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. Its heavily feathered legs mark it as a member of the subfamily Aquilinae, also known as booted eagles. Tawny eagles have an extensive but discontinuous breeding range that constitutes much of the African continent as well as the Indian subcontinent, with rare residency in the southern Middle East. Throughout its range, it favours open dry habitats such as semideserts, deserts steppes, or savanna plains. Despite its preference for arid areas, the species seldom occurs in areas where trees are entirely absent. It is a resident breeder which lays one to three eggs in a stick nest most commonly in the crown of a tree. The tawny eagle is perhaps the most highly opportunistic of all Aquilinae, and often scavenges on carrion or engages in kleptoparasitism towards other carnivorous animals but is also a bold and active predator, often of relatively large and diverse prey. It is estimated that tawny eagles can reach the age of 16 years old. Nonetheless, precipitous declines have been detected throughout the tawny eagle's range. Numerous factors, particularly loss of nesting habitat due to logging and global warming, as well as persecution and other anthropogenic mortality are driving the once numerous tawny eagle perhaps to the brink of extinction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bateleur</span> Species of bird

The bateleur, also known as the bateleur eagle, is a medium-sized eagle in the family Accipitridae. It is often considered a relative of the snake eagles and, like them, it is classified within the subfamily Circaetinae. It is the only member of the genus Terathopius and may be the origin of the "Zimbabwe Bird", the national emblem of Zimbabwe. Adult bateleurs are generally black in colour with a chestnut colour on the mantle as well as also on the rump and tail. Adults also have gray patches about the leading edges of the wings with bright red on their cere and their feet. Adults also show white greater coverts, contrasting with black remiges in males, gray patches on the underwing primaries and black wingtips. The juvenile bateleur is quite different, being largely drab brown with a bit of paler feather scaling. All bateleurs have extremely large heads for their size, rather small bills, large feet, relatively short legs, long, bow-like wings and uniquely short tails, which are much smaller still on adults compared to juvenile birds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White-eyed buzzard</span> Species of bird

The white-eyed buzzard is a medium-sized hawk, distinct from the true buzzards in the genus Buteo, found in South Asia. Adults have a rufous tail, a distinctive white iris, and a white throat bearing a dark mesial stripe bordered. The head is brown and the median coverts of the upper wing are pale. They lack the typical carpal patches on the underside of the wings seen in true buzzards, but the entire wing lining appears dark in contrast to the flight feathers. They sit upright on perches for prolonged periods and soar on thermals in search of insect and small vertebrate prey. They are vociferous in the breeding season, and several birds may be heard calling as they soar together.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jackal buzzard</span> Species of bird

The jackal buzzard is a fairly large African bird of prey. The taxonomy of this species has caused some confusion in the past and it almost certainly belongs in a species complex with other African Buteo species. Some taxonomists have considered this species, the Archer's buzzard, and the augur buzzard to be the same superspecies. Many taxonomists consider them all to be distinct, having different calls, different home ranges and variations in plumage. This is a species that lives among mountains, and on adjacent savanna and grassland. It is resident and non-migratory throughout its range.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Archer's buzzard</span> Species of bird

Archer's buzzard is a subspecies of the augur buzzard that is endemic to Somalia. The bird's common name and Latin binomial commemorate the British explorer and colonial official Sir Geoffrey Francis Archer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mountain buzzard</span> Species of bird

The mountain buzzard is a bird of prey that lives in montane forests in East Africa, it and the forest buzzard of southern Africa were, until recently, considered to be a single species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rufous-winged buzzard</span> Species of bird

The rufous-winged buzzard is an Asian bird of prey. It is a resident breeder of Indochina, Java and Sulawesi. It is a species of deciduous forest and second growth up to 800 m.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grasshopper buzzard</span> Species of bird

The grasshopper buzzard is a species of bird of prey in the family Accipitridae which is found in a narrow zone of sub-Saharan Africa north of the equator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red-necked buzzard</span> Species of bird

The red-necked buzzard, also known as the African red-tailed buzzard, is a species of buzzard in the family Accipitridae which is found in western and northern central Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Upland buzzard</span> Species of bird

The upland buzzard is a species of bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. The largest species of the Buteo genus, this buzzard lives in mountainous grassy and rocky areas in areas of Central Asia, northern South Asia and East Asia from Kazakhstan to Korea. The upland buzzard is migratory but typically covers a short distance apparently to avoid snow cover that may hamper prey capture. This species primarily subsists on small mammals but does not shun alternate prey from small to large birds and insects. This little known raptor has a large range, and though generally uncommon, it is not thought to be rare or declining as a species. As a result it is classified as least concern by the IUCN.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ayres's hawk-eagle</span> Species of bird

Ayres's hawk-eagle, also referred to as Ayres' eagle, is a medium-sized bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. It is native to African woodlands. Its name honors South African ornithologist Thomas Ayres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western red-tailed hawk</span> Subspecies of bird

The western red-tailed hawk is a subspecies of the red-tailed hawk.

References

  1. 1 2 BirdLife International (2016). "Buteo augur". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T22732019A95040751. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22732019A95040751.en . Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Ferguson-Lees, J., & Christie, D. A. (2001). Raptors of the world. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
  3. ↑ Kruckenhauser, L., Haring, E., Pinsker, W., Riesing, M. J., Winkler, H., Wink, M., & Gamauf, A. (2004). Genetic vs. morphological differentiation of Old World buzzards (genus Buteo, Accipitridae). Zoologica Scripta, 33(3), 197-211.
  4. ↑ James, A. H. (1986). Review of taxonomic characters in African buzzards (genus Buteo). Beaufortia, 36(1), 1-12.
  5. ↑ Brooke, R. K. (1975). The taxonomic relationship of Buteo rufofuscus and B. augur. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club, 95, 152-154.
  6. ↑ Kemp, A. C. and G. M. Kirwan (2020). Archer's Buzzard (Buteo archeri), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA.
  7. 1 2 "Hoatzin, New World vultures, Secretarybird, raptors – IOC World Bird List" . Retrieved 2022-08-24.
  8. ↑ CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses, 2nd Edition by John B. Dunning Jr. (Editor). CRC Press (2008), ISBN   978-1-4200-6444-5.
  9. ↑ Mendelsohn, J. M., Kemp, A. C., Biggs, H. C., Biggs, R., & Brown, C. J. (1989). Wing areas, wing loadings and wing spans of 66 species of African raptors. Ostrich, 60(1), 35-42.
  10. 1 2 Lendrum, A. L. (1979). The augur buzzard in the Matopos, Rhodesia. Ostrich, 50(4), 203-214.
  11. 1 2 Meheretu Yonas; Leirs, H (2019). Raptor perch sites for biological control of agricultural pest rodents. In: Nyssen J., Jacob, M., Frankl, A. (Eds.). Geo-trekking in Ethiopia's Tropical Mountains - The Dogu'a Tembien District. SpringerNature. ISBN   978-3-030-04954-6.
  12. ↑ Layard, E. L. (1884). The birds of South Africa. Bernard Quartich.
  13. ↑ Brown, Leslie and Amadon, Dean (1986) Eagles, Hawks and Falcons of the World. The Wellfleet Press. ISBN   978-1555214722.
  14. ↑ Paviour, J. (2013). Key factors that influence breeding performance in raptors. The Plymouth Student Scientist, 6(1), 398-411.
  15. ↑ Irwin, M. P. S. (1981). The birds of Zimbabwe. Quest Pub.
  16. 1 2 Loveridge, A. (1923, December). Notes on East African Birds (chiefly nesting habits and endo-parasites) collected 1920–1923. In Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London (Vol. 93, No. 4, pp. 899-921). Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
  17. ↑ Steyn, P. (1983). Birds of prey of southern Africa: Their identification and life histories. Croom Helm, Beckenham (UK). 1983.
  18. ↑ Virani, M. Z. (1999). The breeding ecology and behaviour of the augur buzzard Buteo augur in relation to different land-uses in the southern Lake Naivasha area, Kenya (Doctoral dissertation, Biology).
  19. ↑ Young, T. P., & Matthew, R. E. (1993). Alpine vertebrates of Mount Kenya, with particular notes on the rock hyrax. East Africa Natural History Society.
  20. ↑ Barry, R. E., & Mundy, P. J. (2015). Fluctuations in bush and rock hyrax (Hyracoidea: Procaviidae) abundances over a 13-year period in the Matopos, Zimbabwe. African Journal of Wildlife Research, 45(1), 17-27.
  21. ↑ Hockey P. A. R., Dean, W. R. J. & Ryan, P. G. (2005). Roberts - Birds of southern Africa, VIIth ed. The Trustees of the John Voelcker Bird Book Fund, Cape Town.
  22. ↑ Seattle Seahawks mascot
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.