The Amazing Buzzard

Buzzards are majestic and stunning birds that currently are the most common bird of prey in the UK. Here are some facts about the buzzard: an adult Buzzard's average wingspan is 1.2m and their weight is 780g-1kg. The common life span of a Buzzard is 12 years. They lives in grassland, moorland, woodland and farmland; you can see buzzards all year round so any day you can go out buzzard spotting.

Even though the Buzzard is the most common bird of prey in the UK that doesn't mean there is a huge amount of them left. There have been severe population declines for Buzzards but recently they have been doing better.

Buzzards use thermals to fly around the sky. Thermals are basically where warm air is rising pushing anything in it upwards. This is what paragliders do to keep themselves up in the air, they find thermals that push them higher just like a buzzard or other birds of prey. You can tell when a bird of prey is using thermals because they fly round in a circle in the air catching the thermals that push them higher.

Examples of birds that use thermals are: Buzzards, Kites, Eagles, Hawks, Ospreys, Vultures, Ravens, Stalks, Cranes and seabirds. Lots of birds use thermals and even we do! So it is possible to fly just like a Buzzard!

Thanks for reading; hope you learned lots!