Can common buzzards hover?

Yes. A common buzzard can face into a headwind and use wing and tail adjustments to remain roughly stationary over the ground. It may flap as well as glide, and there is no standard 20-minute duration.

How can you tell a hovering buzzard from a kestrel?

A buzzard is much larger, with broad rounded wings and a short fanned tail. A kestrel is smaller, with narrower pointed wings and a longer tail, and often uses faster, more continuous wingbeats while hovering.

What do common buzzards eat?

They take whatever is locally abundant, including rabbits, small mammals, birds, amphibians, large insects and earthworms. They also scavenge carrion, so hovering is only one of several ways they find food.

Winging It

Do Buzzards Hover? What Kiting and Soaring Actually Mean

Common buzzards can hold nearly still in a headwind, but a 20-minute stationary hang is not their defining hunting method. Learn the difference between hovering, kiting, soaring and gliding.

8 August 20266 min read