White-tailed Eagle
Haliaetus albicilla
SIZE AND DESCRIPTION
85cm. Largest British raptor. Rectangular wing shape giving ‘barn door’ flight outline. Head large, tail short. Adult brown, paler on head, tail white, huge bill yellow. Juvenile all-dark. Flies with long glides and heavy, heron-like flapping.
VOICE
Sharp yapping call, mainly near nest.
HABITAT
Breeds patchily across central Europe. In Britain only in north Scotland and Ireland. Rocky coastlines, large lochs, low-lying farmland. Nests in large trees or on crags, same sites in constant use for decades.
FOOD AND HABITS
Feeds mainly on fish, caught in low swoop and talon swipe, also takes seabirds and much carrion. Often in pairs. Many other birds mob them relentlessly.
Marsh Harrier
Circus aeruginosus
SIZE AND DESCRIPTION
52cm. Largest European harrier. Usually dark brown above with buff shoulders and head. Male has a grey tail and grey secondaries. Often flies with wings held in a shallow ‘V’.
VOICE
Two-note display call, ‘kweeoo’.
HABITAT
Reedbeds and coastal marshes. Scarce but increasing breeding bird in Britain. Resident in more southerly parts of Europe, including southern England, summer visitor further north.
FOOD AND HABITS
Eats small mammals, frogs, and birds and their eggs. Hunts by systematically quartering the ground. Nests in reed beds.
Hen Harrier
Circus cyaneus
SIZE AND DESCRIPTION
45cm. Slimmer build and narrower wings than Marsh Harrier. Male grey with white underparts.
VOICE
Display call ‘tchik-ikikikik’.
HABITAT
Rare British breeding bird on moorland, mainly north Scotland and Ireland. Widespread on coastal farmland and marshes in winter.
FOOD AND HABITS
Diet includes small mammals, birds, reptiles, insects and carrion. Nest a grassy platform on the ground.
SIMILAR SPECIES MONTAGU’S HARRIER
(C. pygargus). Slighter and rarer than Hen Harrier, with more pointed wings. Underparts speckled with brown. Voice higher than Hen Harrier’s. Summer visitor breeding in a few sites mainly in eastern England.
Common Buzzard
Buteo buteo
SIZE AND DESCRIPTION
52cm. Large with broad rounded wings and a short tail. Usually dark brown above with variable amounts of white below; sometimes with a dark carpal patch.
VOICE
Mewing cry, ‘peeioo’.
HABITAT
Moorland and agricultural land. Year-round resident across much of Europe; summer visitor to far north.
FOOD AND HABITS
Feeds mainly on small mammals, which it catches with a low-flying pounce; also carrion. Soars on V-shaped wings.
Nest is a bulky structure of twigs, usually erected in a tree.
SIMILAR SPECIES Honey Buzzard (Pernis apivorus), 54cm long, has a smaller head than the Common Buzzard, and soars on flat wings. Feeds mainly on wasps, digging out their nests. Summer visitor to much of Europe; scarce in Britain. Winters in Africa. See also Rough-legged Buzzard.
Rough-legged Buzzard
Buteo lagopus
SIZE AND DESCRIPTION
54cm. Slightly larger than Common Buzzard with longer, slimmer wings. Legs (but not feet) lightly feathered. Usually paler than Common Buzzard, with broad dark belly and carpal patches, tail pale with thick dark terminal band.
VOICE
High, wailing ‘peeooooo’.
HABITAT
Actic breeder, uncommon winter visitor to Britain, mainly along east coast, numbers fluctuate from year to year. Mainly found on open, low-lying coasts with rough grassland, farmland or grassy marsh.
FOOD AND HABITS
Hunts small mammals and rabbits, also readily takes carrion. Searches for prey from soaring flight, often hovers. Sometimes waits and pounces from a low perch.