Buzzards

20borekid1

Is there many areas in Ireland with buzzards in them

soc

Funny this, but I actually saw one the other day.

I'd never seen a bird like it before and it was quite big, and having discussed what I saw with my husband, he showed me the picture of the Buzzard - which confirmed what I saw.
I spotted it in Maddenstown, The Curragh. Co Kildare

20borekid1

soc wrote: »

Funny this, but I actually saw one the other day.

I'd never seen a bird that big before, and having discussed what I saw with my husband, he showed me the picture of the Buzzard - which confirmed what I saw.
I spotted it in Maddenstown, The Curragh. Co Kildare

There is always a few around where I am for the last few years and I was wondering was it a one off set of birds or had they spread there wing span is massive

Birdnuts

20borekid1 wrote: »

There is always a few around where I am for the last few years and I was wondering was it a one off set of birds or had they spread there wing span is massive

They have large wings but a puny enough body and legs(chicken sized). A raven would be larger

Big size difference too between the male and female

OpenYourEyes

These are the maps of their distribution up until 2011. They've undoubtedly expanded past this since though. Fantastic birds!

20borekid1

Would they kill much wildlife

OpenYourEyes

20borekid1 wrote: »

Would they kill much wildlife

They feed mostly on rabbits, rats, pigeons, crows. They'll also eat carrion whenever they get the chance (i.e. wildlife that's already dead, roadkill etc) and in autumn/winter they will eat worms in fields too.

They don't have any noticeable impact on any wildlife though! There's a lot of scaremongering out there but it's all rubbish. They look like big birds but they have relatively small feet, and the big wings make them awkward at hunting!

whyulittle

20borekid1 wrote: »

Would they kill much wildlife

They are wildlife.

20borekid1

whyulittle wrote: »

They are wildlife.

I obviously meant pheasants and other birds no need for the smart comment

OpenYourEyes

20borekid1 wrote: »

I obviously meant pheasants and other birds no need for the smart comment

Studies in the UK have found that Buzzards have very very little impact on Pheasants - less than 1% at most areas, and less than 5% across the board in all studies. Stuff like getting hit by cars is a much bigger problem for Pheasants than Buzzards are!

20borekid1

OpenYourEyes wrote: »

Studies in the UK have found that Buzzards have very very little impact on Pheasants - less than 1% at most areas, and less than 5% across the board in all studies. Stuff like getting hit by cars is a much bigger problem for Pheasants than Buzzards are!

Thanks for your well educated answer that's helped me alot

blackpearl

OpenYourEyes wrote: »

They feed mostly on rabbits, rats, pigeons, crows. They'll also eat carrion whenever they get the chance (i.e. wildlife that's already dead, roadkill etc) and in autumn/winter they will eat worms in fields too.

They don't have any noticeable impact on any wildlife though! There's a lot of scaremongering out there but it's all rubbish. They look like big birds but they have relatively small feet, and the big wings make them awkward at hunting!

You forgot the wild pheasant poults on their menu.

OpenYourEyes

blackpearl wrote: »

You forgot the wild pheasant poults on their menu.

I said above - several studies in the UK have found that Buzzards are responsible for less than 5% of Pheasant mortalities, and in most cases it's lower than 1%. And I suspect the Pheasant population in the UK is much larger than that here. Pheasants are a negligible part of the Buzzard diet here, especially compared to the prey items I listed above.

Those same studies also provide a list of recommendations as to how to reduce predation of Pheasants even further. For example there are more losses at release sites with less vegetation cover etc.

Alun

Why the relatively empty area in the west of Ireland on that map? It can't be the terrain seeing as the whole of Britain is covered pretty much 100%.

OpenYourEyes

Alun wrote: »

Why the relatively empty area in the west of Ireland on that map? It can't be the terrain seeing as the whole of Britain is covered pretty much 100%.

Their spread in Ireland has been more recent than in the UK, so they're still spreading here and getting back to where they would historically have been. Since they're spreading from the northeast and east they're colonising from those directions first, and spreading into ideal habitat (mixed and stable farmland) before settling in other habitats. So they will colonise the west, just at a slower pace! The west of Ireland gets higher rainfall than the east too, which often impacts raptor breeding success, so that might slow things a bit too. They've undoubtedly colonised many new grid squares in the west since the atlas surveys were done in 2011 though!

Sam Kade

OpenYourEyes wrote: »

They feed mostly on rabbits, rats, pigeons, crows. They'll also eat carrion whenever they get the chance (i.e. wildlife that's already dead, roadkill etc) and in autumn/winter they will eat worms in fields too.

They don't have any noticeable impact on any wildlife though! There's a lot of scaremongering out there but it's all rubbish. They look like big birds but they have relatively small feet, and the big wings make them awkward at hunting!

I've seen crows being chased in flight by a sparrow hawk, same as a dog fight with WW2 planes.

cd07

Blackpearl you are just trolling in here you aired your views on Buzzards in the shooting forum....enough said

blackpearl

I was wondering where yous all got too,was missing you.:P

cd07

You want to elaborate on that? You are in the wrong forum to be giving your biased views about birds of prey. Its people like you that give shooting a bad name.....destroying the sport for the rest

OpenYourEyes

MOD NOTE:

Stay on topic everyone! Any personal bickering, or any obvious trolling, will result in bans. Don't expect any more warnings.

fiacha

Great time of year to be on the lookout for Buzzards. Spent an hour watching 3 of them putting on courtship displays. Very active around the American Ambassadors residence in the Phoenix Park.

John_Rambo

Another acrobatic pair in Kinseally in the capital. Great to see.

Half-cocked

Just back from a 3 day trip to Germany. Always amazed at the number of Buzzards and other BoP species you see while driving along the autobahns. A sure sign of a much healthier natural environment that ours.

minktrapper

OpenYourEyes wrote: »

Studies in the UK have found that Buzzards have very very little impact on Pheasants - less than 1% at most areas, and less than 5% across the board in all studies. Stuff like getting hit by cars is a much bigger problem for Pheasants than Buzzards are!

There was a case of a gamekeeper in the UK courts where he was caught controlling buzzards. I forgot what the outcome was. What penalties are imposed here if someone is convicted of something similar.

magicbastarder

minktrapper wrote: »

if someone is convicted of something similar.

'if' is the important word here.

Joeseph Balls

minktrapper wrote: »

There was a case of a gamekeeper in the UK courts where he was caught controlling buzzards. I forgot what the outcome was. What penalties are imposed here if someone is convicted of something similar.

Well the term of being a dick would be carried for a long time. I'm a hunter myself and I love seeing them. I can't understand the mind set of a few hunters who think they are taking their pheasants, poults etc. First of all, they are not yours, if they are, keep them I'm an enclosed pen. Release them and they are part of wildlife. Just seen a buzzard over the m50 bridge Sunday, not 15ft abouve the cars, beautiful.

Birdnuts

minktrapper wrote: »

There was a case of a gamekeeper in the UK courts where he was caught controlling buzzards. I forgot what the outcome was. What penalties are imposed here if someone is convicted of something similar.

There was a case in Laois last year where a gamekeeper got fined a couple of grand for illegally trapping a buzzard. The judge told him to expect a prison sentence if he appeared in front of him again. They have a good ranger in Laois who has a solid record in securing convictions for all types of windlife crime.

minktrapper

Not trying to upset anyone but if buzzards became as common as magpies would they be considered vermin too. That is of course if magpies are considered to be vermin. I see a pair circling above me on Sunday. I could watch them forever. They love the warm weather so they can sail around on the updrafts.

Masala

Someone Throw up a pic????


What is that bird you can see hovering off motorways a lot???

Mountainsandh

I'm in West Waterford, and glad to report that we have 3 local buzzards. They only reached our area recently. I saw a total of 5 flying together one day, but I think only the 3 are local. They hunt the woods together, it's beautiful to see.

Plenty of rabbits, pheasants etc... in my area too, numbers seem unaffected so far. The pheasants are like bloody chickens they're all over the roads.

Birdnuts

minktrapper wrote: »

Not trying to upset anyone but if buzzards became as common as magpies would they be considered vermin too. That is of course if magpies are considered to be vermin. I see a pair circling above me on Sunday. I could watch them forever. They love the warm weather so they can sail around on the updrafts.

Not likely to ever reach the number of magpies - I believe the highest densities in the UK are about 1 pair per 600 acres given perfect habitat. . Magpies can exist at much higher densities then that - especially in urban areas. In any case Buzzards are actually good at thinning out vermin like rats, crows etc. so putting them on a vermin risk wouldn't make much sense on any level.

PS: It should be noted that in the case of birds, they can only be put on a general "vermin list" under EU and Irish wildlife law if their is a solid scientific basis for it. It is unrelated to actual "numbers" of a species, since if that was the only basis, you would be able to legally kill the likes of Chafffinches, Sparrows etc. for any reason