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ID tip
A small buzzard and quite similar to the steppe buzzard Buteo buteo vulpinus, the migratory subspecies of the Palearctic common buzzard which winters over most of Africa. The adult has brown upperparts with paler underparts with heavy brown blotches on the breast, belly, flanks and underwing coverts. The underside of the flight feathers is barred with a distinct black band along the rear edge of the wing. The tail is brown above, light grey below and shows faint narrow bars which are broadest just before the tail tip. Juveniles are buffier below and less heavily marked than the adults.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
When to see the Mountain Buzzard
One bar for each month, and every month is filled: this bird is recorded here in all twelve. The wide bar is July, the month with the most records.
Where to see the Mountain Buzzard
The map shades 8 countries with regular records, and 1 more in a lighter tone where the bird turns up only as a stray. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.
Recorded as a rare visitor in South Africa.
About the Mountain Buzzard
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.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Easily confused with
Madagascar BuzzardButeo brachypterusThe Madagascar buzzard is a typical old-world buzzard showing quite a lot of variability in plumage and which is similar to the forest buzzard of Africa and the palearctic common buzzard.
Side by side: Mountain Buzzard vs White-throated Hawk · Madagascar Buzzard vs Mountain Buzzard · Mountain Buzzard vs Red-necked Buzzard
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