Topic: Hawkeyes

[GrannieAnnie]

There were 3 Coopers Hawks lolling around the pool yesterday morning maybe waiting for me to serve drinks. This picture isn't so hot, had to take it through the window because they're very skittish.

[angle shades]

 :) they are lovely GA, was dead disappointed when I went to the States, only saw Turkey Buzzards ;D / shades x

[GrannieAnnie]

:) they are lovely GA, was dead disappointed when I went to the States, only saw Turkey Buzzards ;D / shades x

You saw one of the ugliest birds then! Up close they are horrendous and also smelly.

[Robert_Brenchley]

I saw two buzzards over our site last week. They're not exactly a city bird but that's the third time in about a year I've seen them over the site.

[GrannieAnnie]

I saw two buzzards over our site last week. They're not exactly a city bird but that's the third time in about a year I've seen them over the site.

I drove home once and saw two sitting on our roof ridge line. Did that ever look ominous! Like a portent of death and doom.

[Robert_Brenchley]

I like buzzards myself. I don't know your US ones, but ours are now our commonest bird of prey. They eat a fair bit of carrion, and will also kill ground prey from worms and beetles up to rabbits. They're extremely useful predators and scavengers.

[GrannieAnnie]

I like buzzards myself. I don't know your US ones, but ours are now our commonest bird of prey. They eat a fair bit of carrion, and will also kill ground prey from worms and beetles up to rabbits. They're extremely useful predators and scavengers.

They can become a problem as this NY Times article mentions about the buzzard problem in Virginia:
 "The complaints have ranged from the grisly to the bizarre.
> Vultures are known to swoop down on newborn calves and
> lambs, peck their eyes out and even kill their mothers.
> From 1997 to 2001, vultures killed or wounded 392 farm
> animals, costing farmers $133,305, the wildlife services
> office reported last fall. Black vultures are considered
> the main culprits, with less aggressive turkey vultures a
> milder nuisance.
>
> The buzzards have also attacked property, officials say,
> tearing off roof shingles, tractor seats and windshield
> wipers. Their droppings on transmission towers have caused
> power failures. For reasons that ornithologists have not
> figured out, they seem attracted to plastic and rubber
> items, like window gaskets and sheathing on power lines.
>
> At a boat landing south of Richmond, complaints about
> vulture damage to boats and cars became so common that the
> federal government killed nearly 400 birds there last year.
> But local officials say more than 200 birds returned this
> summer."
>

[Robert_Brenchley]

Are you talking about buzzards or vultures, or are they the same bird over there? On this side of the Atlantic, they're very different! Whatever they are, our buzzards are nothing like that. They will certainly feed on dead sheep, but wouldn't be capable of tackling a live one. Sea eagles, which are very significantly bigger, are accused of attacking lambs, but the claims are strongly disputed, and they're probably only taking the dead and dying.

[GrannieAnnie]

Are you talking about buzzards or vultures, or are they the same bird over there? On this side of the Atlantic, they're very different! Whatever they are, our buzzards are nothing like that. They will certainly feed on dead sheep, but wouldn't be capable of tackling a live one. Sea eagles, which are very significantly bigger, are accused of attacking lambs, but the claims are strongly disputed, and they're probably only taking the dead and dying.

The term is used interchangeably here, rightly or wrongly. Even in that NY Times article they used both terms.  It is the Black Vulture here that is the worst and attacks cattle and sheep.

[Robert_Brenchley]

Your US vultures aren't related to the Old World ones, so I don't know whether it's right or wrong either!

[GrannieAnnie]

Your US vultures aren't related to the Old World ones, so I don't know whether it's right or wrong either!

What the internet says is that Brits who came over  to America called our vultures "buzzards" which started the mix-up.  Funny how these confusions begin and why some names stick and others don't. I'm always amazed on this forum how many times I have no clue what some of the words you use mean!

[Robert_Brenchley]

They may look like our buzzards, I don't know. This is what I call a buzzard: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_buzzard

And these are vultures: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulture

[GrannieAnnie]

I'd say your buzzards are far more attractive than the vultures around us which have bald-ish heads, have a wattle, and look untidy.

[1066]

they are very beautiful birds - whatever they get up to!

On the subject of vultures I can never think of them without being reminded of the vultures in Disney's the Jungle Book !

[Robert_Brenchley]

I'd say your buzzards are far more attractive than the vultures around us which have bald-ish heads, have a wattle, and look untidy.

I can see why they're called vultures! I assume they're carrion-feeders like the Old World ones.

[GrannieAnnie]

I'd say your buzzards are far more attractive than the vultures around us which have bald-ish heads, have a wattle, and look untidy.

I can see why they're called vultures! I assume they're carrion-feeders like the Old World ones.

Yes. We have them soaring overhead every day. The joke here is when you're outside you'd better keep moving and not look like dead meat.