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Buzzard

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    #32
    magicbastarder
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 48,643 CMod ✭✭✭✭magicbastarder


    was that a squirrel?


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    #33
    lab man
    Registered Users Posts: 1,830 ✭✭✭lab man


    Hi new to this forum, lve seen 2 buzzards on a farm I lease near an estuary just a question would they kill a sleeping baby calf out in a field ?


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    #34
    magicbastarder
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 48,643 CMod ✭✭✭✭magicbastarder


    a calf? not a hope.


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    #35
    gzoladz
    Registered Users Posts: 2,196 ✭✭✭gzoladz


    magicbastarder wrote: »
    was that a squirrel?

    I don't know, the bird picked it up from the ground and it was just that peace, but it could have been as there are loads on the gardens.


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    #36
    Zoo4m8
    Registered Users Posts: 1,003 ✭✭✭Zoo4m8


    lab man wrote: »
    Hi new to this forum, lve seen 2 buzzards on a farm I lease near an estuary just a question would they kill a sleeping baby calf out in a field ?

    I’m not sure what to make of this question..but I’m going to assume it’s as innocent as it first appears...Buzzards will not interfere with, injure or kill a calf, further back in this thread in numerous post are descriptions of what they do take...oh, and they don’t take lambs either.


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    #37
    lab man
    Registered Users Posts: 1,830 ✭✭✭lab man


    Zoo4m8 wrote:
    I’m not sure what to make of this question..but I’m going to assume it’s as innocent as it first appears...Buzzards will not interfere with, injure or kill a calf, further back in this thread in numerous post are descriptions of what they do take...oh, and they don’t take lambs either.


    I had a calf there 3 months ago 3 days old running around the fields following morning the calf was dead his eyes were picked out then I saw these birds which Ive never seen before,so I took a picture of them googled birds of prey irl and twas buzzards, so I'm only adding 2 and 2?


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    #38
    ytpe2r5bxkn0c1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 32,688 ✭✭✭✭ytpe2r5bxkn0c1


    lab man wrote: »
    I had a calf there 3 months ago 3 days old running around the fields following morning the calf was dead his eyes were picked out then I saw these birds which Ive never seen before,so I took a picture of them googled birds of prey irl and twas buzzards, so I'm only adding 2 and 2?
    Or calf was dead and Buzzard fed on carrion, which is the closest I've seen to a Buzzard eat lamb or calf, in many years of prolonged intense study of them.


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    #39
    upupup
    Registered Users Posts: 605 ✭✭✭upupup


    lab man wrote: »
    Hi new to this forum, lve seen 2 buzzards on a farm I lease near an estuary just a question would they kill a sleeping baby calf out in a field ?
    Yes they can kill young cattle,sheep and small dogs if they have been trained to use shotguns.


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    #40
    lab man
    Registered Users Posts: 1,830 ✭✭✭lab man


    upupup wrote:
    Yes they can kill young cattle,sheep and small dogs if they have been trained to use shotguns.


    Not funny to me sir, madam. Try getting another calf to suck a suckle cow you must not know much about it


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    #41
    dodderangler
    Registered Users Posts: 9,204 ✭✭✭dodderangler


    lab man wrote: »
    Hi new to this forum, lve seen 2 buzzards on a farm I lease near an estuary just a question would they kill a sleeping baby calf out in a field ?

    This is the biggest problem when it comes to any bird of prey. The old wives tails. They’re as believable as a fisherman’s story of the one that got away. And in turn has led to bird of prey being shot on sight. Buzzards have tiny feet despite being large birds they would struggle to take out s full grown rabbit. Mainly rats and small mammals and corvids are the main diet and even insects play a big part of their diet.
    They will scavenge a lamb corpse and this leads farmers and others to believe they killed it. They won’t. Their feet are too small to make a kill like that.
    Red kites look massive but they mainly scavenge or take out rats and mice. Often seen following tractors ploughing fields for victims. Yet they’re poisoned or shot for fear of killing livestock.
    Eagles like golden eagles were hunted to near extinction because of fear they’d take lambs or sheep or calves. Desperately maybe. But hated and rabbits are more so diet.
    Sea eagles name itself tells their location. And they’d mainly hunt fish and will scavenge aswell.
    Farmers believe and spread tales of birds of prey killing livestock but it’s false. There’s more risk of dogs killing livestock than birds of prey. More risk if livestock being knocked down than both put together. As a hunter I’ve still yet to see a buzzard taking a pheasant yet I’ve heard it from gun club members that it happens. I had a Harris hawk for hunting and even they struggle with a full grown cock pheasant and Harris hawk have much bigger feet.
    Don’t believe what you hear from through the grapevine tales.


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    #42
    Birdnuts
    Registered Users Posts: 9,660 ✭✭✭Birdnuts


    lab man wrote: »
    I had a calf there 3 months ago 3 days old running around the fields following morning the calf was dead his eyes were picked out then I saw these birds which Ive never seen before,so I took a picture of them googled birds of prey irl and twas buzzards, so I'm only adding 2 and 2?

    Grey crows will pick out the eyes of dead animals, including farm stock. Sometimes they will finish off a weak unguarded lamb or a ewe thats sick and on its back. Either way I guarantee u it wasn't a buzzard that interfered with that that calf


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    #43
    recedite
    Closed Accounts Posts: 13,993 ✭✭✭✭recedite


    Was watching a pair of buzzards and some grey crows feeding on a ewe carcass today. Crows working as team to hassle the buzzards, one would go in front, while the other sneaked round and pecked the buzzards tail from behind. Buzzards stayed in control of the food though, until they were well fed.
    The ewe died during a very cold night, for whatever reason, probably was weak or sick.
    The birds come along the next day. Surprisingly some black backed gulls were the first on the scene, even though its a few miles inland and they would not normally be around. They must have amazing eyesight.


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    #44
    Strawberry1975
    Registered Users Posts: 70 ✭✭Strawberry1975


    Good eating Mutton make a nice mutton stew few spuds an onion
    They say it improves ones eyesight.


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    #45
    recedite
    Closed Accounts Posts: 13,993 ✭✭✭✭recedite


    Yes, throw in a few nice mushrooms as well, though they are hard to find at the moment.


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    #46
    Strawberry1975
    Registered Users Posts: 70 ✭✭Strawberry1975


    I reckon so with the frost ya won't get the magic one's.
    Buy a few in lidl
    Try a bit of Grass for seasoning lol
    G'luck
    Wayne World


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    #47
    OpenYourEyes
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 3,068 Mod ✭✭✭✭OpenYourEyes


    Mod Note: I've issued some warnings to posters to stay on topic please!


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    #48
    Strawberry1975
    Registered Users Posts: 70 ✭✭Strawberry1975


    I seen two buzzards caught in rat traps a month ago the traps were set for crows the traps had meat in them
    I think the buzzards going to go the same way as the barn owl
    Rat Trap on top of 6' Stake


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    #49
    ThunderCat
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,385 ✭✭✭ThunderCat


    recedite wrote: »
    Was watching a pair of buzzards and some grey crows feeding on a ewe carcass today. Crows working as team to hassle the buzzards, one would go in front, while the other sneaked round and pecked the buzzards tail from behind. Buzzards stayed in control of the food though, until they were well fed.
    The ewe died during a very cold night, for whatever reason, probably was weak or sick.
    The birds come along the next day. Surprisingly some black backed gulls were the first on the scene, even though its a few miles inland and they would not normally be around. They must have amazing eyesight.

    I once lived in a cottage overlooking a beach and I'll never forget one morning throwing out a few scraps of bread and seeing a herring gull fly from the tide line, about half a mile away that morning and fully out, all the way to the cottage for the bread. It felt like he was flying for ages just to reach the house. And he started flying the instant that bread was in the air, so it wasn't that he saw other birds causing a commotion waiting for the bread or anything because there weren't any at that moment. It was funny to see.


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    #50
    Strawberry1975
    Registered Users Posts: 70 ✭✭Strawberry1975


    Wouldn't it be amazing to have similar eye sight to be able to see things so far away.


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    #51
    recedite
    Closed Accounts Posts: 13,993 ✭✭✭✭recedite


    ThunderCat wrote: »
    I once lived in a cottage overlooking a beach and I'll never forget one morning throwing out a few scraps of bread and seeing a herring gull fly from the tide line, about half a mile away that morning and fully out, all the way to the cottage for the bread. It felt like he was flying for ages just to reach the house. And he started flying the instant that bread was in the air, so it wasn't that he saw other birds causing a commotion waiting for the bread or anything because there weren't any at that moment. It was funny to see.
    Interesting. You hear a lot about birds of prey and how good their sight is, but I wonder has anyone ever tested a gull's sight?
    They are kind of overlooked. And the larger species are far more predatory than most people think.


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    #52
    ytpe2r5bxkn0c1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 32,688 ✭✭✭✭ytpe2r5bxkn0c1


    recedite wrote: »
    Interesting. You hear a lot about birds of prey and how good their sight is, but I wonder has anyone ever tested a gull's sight?
    They are kind of overlooked. And the larger species are far more predatory than most people think.

    Gulls, like most marine birds. have exceptional eyesight and can find food from quite a distance or height. However it's not nearly as developed as the vision of many raptors, who have many more receptors per sq mm and foveas with far more rods and cones that provide extraordinary distance vision.


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    #53
    Mach Two
    Registered Users Posts: 714 ✭✭✭Mach Two


    Carter Rich Cloth wrote: »
    recedite wrote: »
    Interesting. You hear a lot about birds of prey and how good their sight is, but I wonder has anyone ever tested a gull's sight?
    They are kind of overlooked. And the larger species are far more predatory than most people think.

    Gulls, like most marine birds. have exceptional eyesight and can find food from quite a distance or height. However it's not nearly as developed as the vision of many raptors, who have many more receptors per sq mm and foveas with far more rods and cones that provide extraordinary distance vision.

    Compared to humans how much better are raptors.


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    #54
    ytpe2r5bxkn0c1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 32,688 ✭✭✭✭ytpe2r5bxkn0c1


    Mach Two wrote: »
    Compared to humans how much better are raptors.

    A lot.


    I'm not in to trying to put a comparative measure on all the aspects or factors involved in sight. There's no single measure. But if you have 20/20 vision, they would have 20/4 at least.


    To quote from elsewhere
    If you had an eagle's eyes you could see an ant crawling on the ground from the roof of a 10-story building. You could make out the expressions on soccer players' faces from the worst seats in the arena. Objects directly in your line of sight would appear magnified, and everything would be brilliantly coloured, rendered in an inconceivable array of shades.


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    #55
    Birdnuts
    Registered Users Posts: 9,660 ✭✭✭Birdnuts


    Strawberry1975 wrote: »
    I seen two buzzards caught in rat traps a month ago the traps were set for crows the traps had meat in them
    I think the buzzards going to go the same way as the barn owl
    Rat Trap on top of 6' Stake

    What you describe is an illegal pole trap - I would be reporting such activity to the NPWS or Gardai. Crows can only caged trapped

    http://wildlifecrime.ie/pages/Traps.html#GO-Illegal

    A number of prosecutions have been brought in recent years in this area

    "Pole traps are ILLEGAL

    The term "pole trap" refers to a spring trap fastened to the top of a pole and used to kill birds of prey. In the past small circular gin traps were sold for that purpose. Of course gin traps are now illegal but legal traps like fenn traps are sometimes illegally used for this purpose. Birds of prey are very attracted to perching on solitary poles - even with a pole trap on top.

    Any person who affixes, places or sets a trap, calculated or likely to cause death or bodily injury to any wild bird coming in contact with it, on any tree, pole, cairn or other structure shall be guilty of an offence"


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    #56
    Strawberry1975
    Registered Users Posts: 70 ✭✭Strawberry1975


    Really I never knew


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    #57
    corks finest
    Registered Users Posts: 8,655 ✭✭✭corks finest


    Strawberry1975 wrote: »
    I seen two buzzards caught in rat traps a month ago the traps were set for crows the traps had meat in them
    I think the buzzards going to go the same way as the barn owl
    Rat Trap on top of 6' Stake
    FFS idiots those who put them there, could have used a cage for the rats


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    #58
    emo72
    Registered Users Posts: 6,226 ✭✭✭emo72


    seen a buzzard real close up at the m50 n4 interchange a couple of times this week. its right down on the fence only abot 6 feet away from me. seems to be getting a good bit of roadkill in that island.


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    #59
    cd07
    Registered Users Posts: 466 ✭✭cd07


    emo72 wrote:
    seen a buzzard real close up at the m50 n4 interchange a couple of times this week. its right down on the fence only abot 6 feet away from me. seems to be getting a good bit of roadkill in that island.

    Unfortunately a lot of them end up with the same fate. Driving the m1 the other day saw 2 separate buzzards dead close to roadkill


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    #60
    Beast4mdaeast
    Registered Users Posts: 57 ✭✭Beast4mdaeast


    gzoladz wrote: »
    I got this very tame one in the Botanic Gardens a few months ago

    45910827391_f0800ff9ed_b.jpg

    45910825981_125a6d4841_b.jpg

    Great photos. Very dark Buzzard


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    #61
    Beast4mdaeast
    Registered Users Posts: 57 ✭✭Beast4mdaeast


    recedite wrote: »
    Interesting. You hear a lot about birds of prey and how good their sight is, but I wonder has anyone ever tested a gull's sight?
    They are kind of overlooked. And the larger species are far more predatory than most people think.

    Very true i fly a trained harris hawk for falconry , and one thing ive learned dont under estimate any Birds eyesight, its not just the birds of prey, its the tiny robin in the garden has amazing eyesight to the super intelligent corvids and gulls there eyesight must be just as good as ive seen them spot me & my harris from over a km away at times, amazing animals ,Birds


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