Over the Christmas and New Year period, we have taken in four Buzzards, all in various states of starvation.
The first was a young bird (hatched last year) which was severely emaciated and was found grubbing in a field. Grubbing is where Buzzards will “hunt” for invertebrates on the ground, and is often associated with weakened birds who don’t have the energy to fly. Thankfully, this youngster still had an appetite and devoured all the food we gave him. Thanks to our dedicated team providing round the clock care, he pulled through and is now gaining weight. This suggests that he hasn’t learnt how to hunt properly, so once he’s gained sufficient weight we will find a suitable hack release site for him.
This young bird still displays juvenile behaviours
The second Buzzard to come in was an older female. She was also underweight, and upon arrival, we discovered that she had a healed broken wing. But after a flight assessment, it appears that this has healed and was not affecting her flight, so we suspect she had a bacterial infection. She received treatment for this and has put on weight. This girl is clearly experienced and is showing us that she is quite capable of looking after herself, so we will be releasing her soon.
This darker female is older and more experienced.
The third Buzzard was another youngster who we suspect had also not had much experience hunting for his own food. This bird had been found locally in a starving condition but was being supplementary fed by well meaning people. This is not recommended as the birds become reliant on people for food rather than going to find it for themselves, and can sometimes lead to aggressive behaviours if you forget to feed them one day. It also makes the birds lazy, and this bird was actually a good weight when it came in, although had no muscle condition. After a quick assessment, he was placed in an aviary and is now building up fitness before release. This youngster will also be ideal for a hack release if we can find a suitable location.
This youngster is being monitored after being found starving.
The fourth Buzzard was brought in after being witnessed falling from a roofrack of a travelling vehicle. Thankfully, the people driving behind stopped to pick it up and brought it straight to us. We have no idea how far it had travelled before becoming loose and escaping, but it was very lucky not to have any serious injuries. After a couple of days under observation, it was moved to one of our larger aviaries where we’ll continue to monitor it for any lasting damage.
A pale morph Buzzard that was seen falling from a travelling vehicle
To have so many Buzzards in at the same time is rather unusual, and certainly we have seen more Buzzards brought into the Raptor Hospital in the past 12 months than in previous years. This suggests that the local population is experiencing a boom, which has certainly been noted by staff and volunteers driving to and from work.
The weather can play a part in hunting success of raptors, and the mild and relatively dry winter should have made life easier. However, this might also have allowed weaker individuals to survive when otherwise they would have perished in the damp weather and first frosts we usually get in October and November. Whilst it’s never nice to think about death, natural selection and survival of the fittest do have an important role to play. If every chick survives, there would not be enough food to sustain the population, and we fear that this may be the cause of our increased admissions.
The British Trust for Ornithology produces a BirdTrends report each year. In 2020 they noted that Buzzards number between 67-85,000 pairs across the UK and have shown a rapid increase in population in the last few decades. This is believed to be linked with reduced persecution and increased food availability (with rabbit population recovering from myxomatosis).
These four Buzzards will be ringed before release as part of the BTO ringing scheme.