Long-legged buzzards

The Long-legged buzzard is a huge member of the Buteo genus and is a common raptor in North Africa and several regions of Eurasia. Their wings, tail, and legs are all fairly enormous in comparison to the rest of their body, and they have a reasonably sized head with a relatively large bill.

The long-legged buzzard may be found all throughout Eurasia. They frequently coexist in a number of locations with the common buzzard's steppe subspecies. Although it is unclear how the two coexist, it is known that long-legged buzzards prefer open, rocky habitats to forested edges and frequently build their nests on or near rocks rather than in trees. Both the common and long-legged buzzards are frequently highly opportunistic, but the long-legged buzzard is typically less dependent on voles as a source of food and is more likely to take a variety of small mammals such as mole-rats, hamsters, ground squirrels, rats, and various reptiles such as lizards. They also feed on reptiles, smaller birds, insects, and carrion in addition to these. It was shown that the two species frequently participated in interspecific disputes close to the nests in northeastern Greece, with the common buzzard accounting for the biggest proportion of hostile encounters for long-legged buzzards, 10 out of 47 such interactions.