In spring a large raptor circles lazily in the distance, and as it does so it looks extensively white below. Is it a Common Buzzard? Or is it perhaps an Osprey? Could it even be something rarer? Distant raptors are notorious for giving teasing glimpses and rarely stay around for long, so it is important to concentrate quickly on the key features.
Common Buzzard
One of the major success stories of the last 20 years has been the eastward march of Common Buzzard.
For decades confined to traditional strongholds in the upland west and north, the species has spread relentlessly east across the Midlands, the South-East and East Anglia. Almost unknown in these areas in the 1980s, it is now an everyday sight there; indeed, this is now Britain’s commonest diurnal raptor.
Common Buzzards come in a bewildering variety of plumages, ranging from relatively dark through ‘medium’ to ‘pale’. Most fall somewhere in the medium range, but some are much paler, a few strikingly so. While the species’ new abundance provides ample opportunity for familiarity, it also means that there are more of these pale birds in circulation, thereby increasing the chances of confusion with other species.
Pale Common Buzzards can be almost white about the head and underbody. The underwing can also be bright white, albeit with a diffuse dark trailing edge, while the dark ‘wrist patches’ on the underwing are often reduced to narrow comma-shaped marks. At a distance, and particularly against the light, such birds can look essentially white below, thereby resembling a number of other species.
However, continued scrutiny should also reveal at least some markings in the breast sides and flanks – very few are completely white bodied. The upperside should provide plenty of clues, too, with pale birds typically showing white in the tail base, uppertail coverts and rump, scapulars and wing coverts. Any distant large raptor showing some of these upperparts features will more than likely be a pale Common Buzzard.
More important than plumage, however, are size and structure. The former is always difficult to judge at a distance, and with their broad wings Common Buzzards can easily be mistaken for larger birds of prey, but do they have a very characteristic silhouette, appearing typically rather compact, broad but short winged, with a short, broad tail. They also have a distinctive stiff wing action and soar on characteristically raised wings, but they can adopt a flatter-winged profile when gliding. They can hover quite well, too. Birds over breeding habitat in early spring are typically seen in pairs or small groups.
Osprey
This is a summer visitor to northern Europe from West Africa, but the first birds return early, in March. A passage Osprey could be seen almost anywhere in the migration seasons, but coastal and wetland sites will be most productive. Birds on migration often pass straight through, sometimes at considerable height, and rarely come back for a second look.
Ospreys really are dark above and white below.
Any view of the upperside will show it to be plain dark brown, while the underparts and underwings are largely white with just a small dark ‘wrist mark’, a variable dark band along the greater underwing coverts and no real dark trailing edge.
Much more striking, however, are size and silhouette. This is a large raptor, bigger than a Common Buzzard and, unlike that species, will cause something of a commotion in the area, flushing birds at some range and often attracting the attention of any gulls present.
Ospreys are imposing in flight, with a rather long, rectangular wing and a slightly narrower ‘hand’. The tail is short and narrow. The wing is typically ‘kinked’, pushed forward at the carpal, and gliding is performed on flat or slightly drooping wings. At extreme range, they almost have the jizz of a Great Black-backed Gull. They regularly hover to hunt, but of course only do this over water – any Osprey carrying a fish is easy to identify!
Other options
Other options for a ‘white below’ raptor include Short-toed and pale-morph Booted Eagles, but either of these is seriously rare in Britain. The former has occurred only three times, while pale Booted Eagle has occurred at least once, but not under circumstances that have allowed its official acceptance.
Short-toed is a genuinely large eagle: broad headed with long and broad wings and a ‘full’ tail. In plumage it is rather pallid and most resembles a large Honey Buzzard. It can appear somewhat ‘hooded’ and there is a strong contrast between the pale upperwing coverts and the darker flight feathers. The key feature is the underwing, which just appears uniformly pale and completely lacks a dark ‘wrist mark’. It flies with deep, slow wing-beats and is a persistent hoverer over heathland and open country, where it may be seen carrying off snakes and lizards.
Booted Eagle is smaller, more similar in size to Common Buzzard, with short, broad wings and a broad wing-tip. The tail is fairly long. In its pale morph, it has a characteristic black-and-white underparts pattern comprising a white underbody and underwing coverts contrasting sharply with black flight feathers, the resulting pattern resembling that of Egyptian Vulture. There is also a slight pale ‘window’ in the inner primaries. The upperparts pattern is very distinctive, comprising pale upperwing coverts, scapulars and uppertail coverts. It typically hangs in the air, with a drooping head and lowered legs, and is capable of breathtaking stoops to take prey from the ground.
TWO: Common Buzzard (Katwijk, The Netherlands, 16 October 2005). This Common Buzzard is much darker than the one in photo one; keep in mind, however, that the underwings are in shadow. The underbody is mostly brown, but this is a little blotchy and there is a hint of a pale area across the breast – a typical feature of this species. The underwing pattern is typical, too: a broad dark trailing edge and solid dark wing-tip, dark underwing coverts with pale internal feathering and extensive barring in the secondaries and inner primaries. The flight silhouette is short and broad winged, with a short-necked appearance and a short, broad tail.
THREE: Booted Eagle (Cadiz, Spain, 28 March 2011). Though superficially buzzard-like, this bird shows a longer-winged silhouette with a more ‘rectangular’ wing. The underwing is also more solidly dark, lacking pale in the underwing coverts, with a dark bar across the mid-wing. The barring in the flight feathers is faint and there is a narrow pale ‘window’ in the inner primaries. The underparts are a rich uniform brown with no trace of blotchiness or any pale crescentic area in the breast. Further clues are provided by the slightly longernecked, more eagle-like ‘front-end’ and slightly longer tail.
FIVE: Osprey (Weston Turville Reservoir, Buckinghamshire, 20 September 2015). This bird has a rather different flight silhouette, with a long wing and a slightly narrower ‘hand’. The tail is short but narrow. The carpals are also held well forward, giving a slightly ‘kinked’ appearance to the leading edge of the wing. These features all suggest that this bird is an Osprey, a diagnosis which can be confirmed by the white underbody, largely white underwing with only faint barring and the typical dark brown ‘mask’ through the eye, curling up onto the nape.
FOUR: Common Buzzard (Plymstock, Devon, 19 March 2005). This bird appears initially very striking, with its extensive white underparts and underwings. Note, however, the compact shape and the short, broad wings and tail. These are all key features of Common Buzzard. Additional buzzard features are the brown smudging in the malar region, the upper breast and the rear flanks, narrow but prominent dark ‘wrist marks’ at the tips of the under primary coverts and a broad, solid, dark trailing edge and wing-tip. The very faint thin barring in the tail is typical of juvenile Common Buzzard.
SIX: Booted Eagle (Tarifa, Spain, 11 September 2015). This bird appears superficially like a pale Common Buzzard, but note the lack of any dark ‘wrist marks’. Instead the underside is basically black and white, the white body and underwing coverts contrasting with blackish flight feathers. Note also the narrow pale ‘window’ in the inner primaries and the plain undertail with just a faint dark centre and tip. These are all key features of pale-morph Booted Eagle. Note also the typical dark ‘hood’ of this species. Structural clues include a fractionally longer-winged appearance than Common Buzzard, while the closed tail is a little longer and narrower.
EIGHT: Common Buzzard (Bale, Norfolk, 2 November 2009). This bird is certainly eye-catching, with extensive white in the head and upperwing and uppertail coverts. However, the structure is highly Common Buzzard-like: a broad, shortish wing with a wide ‘hand’ and a shortish, broad tail. This bird is indeed a Common Buzzard, albeit a strikingly pale individual. Such birds typically show (as here) extensive pale across all the upperwing coverts (not a discrete band in the median coverts) as well as white ‘bleeding’ from the uppertail coverts into the tail-base. The brown malars are also a typical Common Buzzard feature.
SEVEN: Short-toed Eagle (Gujarat, India, 23 February 2012). This bird looks big, and it is! The very pale underwings with just brown flecking in the underwing coverts, a pale diffusely grey wing-tip and the merest hint of dark ‘wrist marks’ suggest Short-toed Eagle, a diagnosis confirmed by the very long and broad wings, a longish and broad tail, a completely plain underbody with just a dark ‘hood’, and three well-spaced dark bars in the undertail.
NINE: Booted Eagle (Linosa, Italy, 7 November 2013). Although at first sight rather Common Buzzard-like, this bird shows some important differences. The pale scapular patches are well defined and the pale in the upperwing coverts forms a discrete band in the median coverts. The result is the classic ‘four patches’ seen only on the upperside of Booted Eagle, an identification confirmed by the clearly defined pale ‘U’ across the uppertail coverts (with no pale ‘bleeding’ into the tail-base). Also visible here is the characteristic white ‘landing light’ formed by a white patch on the leading edge of the wing adjacent to the body.
TEN: Short-toed Eagle (Sagres, Portugal, 1 October 2011). With its long and broad wings, this bird immediately looks like a large rather than a medium-sized raptor. The upperparts are perhaps a little Common Buzzard-like, but note the strong contrast between the pale coverts and the darker flight feathers, and a narrow pale line across the tips of the greater coverts. The three well-spaced dark bars across the tail are characteristic of Short-toed Eagle, visible both from above (as here) and from below (as in photo seven).
TWELVE: Booted Eagle (Valladolid, Spain, 7 May 2013). Though perhaps reminiscent of a Common Buzzard, this bird has a rather more elegant appearance, a function of its somewhat longer neck and longer, wellfeathered legs. The plumage is typical of palemorph Booted Eagle: a dark ‘hood’, particularly dark and prominent around the eye and across and below the ear coverts, contrasting with a white underbody. Note also the discrete pale band in the wing coverts, confined to the median coverts.
ELEVEN: Common Buzzard (Steventon, Oxfordshire, 17 November 2011). This is a typical ‘Common Buzzard on a post’ image. It is a very pale individual, but has the ‘giveaway’ features of brown malars leading into brown markings at the sides of the breast, with further brown markings in the flanks. Note also the pale fringing throughout the wing coverts. Structurally, too, this is a typical Common Buzzard, the characteristically short legs giving it a slightly inelegant appearance.
THIRTEEN: Osprey (Kangasala, Finland, 27 June 2007). This is a classic portrait of a perched Osprey and an easy identification. Note the uniform dark brown upperparts with no pale in the wing coverts, the completely pure white underparts and the dark brown line running through the eye and onto the nape. Also visible here are the typical well-hooked bill, the long wings extending beyond the tail and the big fish-grasping talons.
FOURTEEN: Short-toed Eagle (La Janda, Spain, 23 September 2015). This bird is somewhat reminiscent of a very pale Common Buzzard, but note the lack of brown in the malar region and the complete lack of any brown in the breast-sides or flanks. Also striking is a rather large-headed, broad-faced, almost owl-like appearance – a key feature of Short-toed Eagle. Dimensions cannot be judged here, but in life the very large size of this bird would almost certainly be apparent.