The red-necked buzzard (''Buteo auguralis''), also known as the African red-tailed buzzard,
is a species of
buzzard
Buzzard is the common name of several species of birds of prey.
''Buteo'' species
* Archer's buzzard (''Buteo archeri'')
* Augur buzzard (''Buteo augur'')
* Broad-winged hawk (''Buteo platypterus'')
* Common buzzard (''Buteo buteo'')
* Eastern ...
in the family
Accipitridae
The Accipitridae is one of the three families within the order Accipitriformes, and is a family of small to large birds with strongly hooked bills and variable morphology based on diet. They feed on a range of prey items from insects to medium-s ...
which is found in western and northern central Africa.
Description
The red-necked buzzard is a medium-sized bird of prey with a distinctive rufous neck, the rufous colour extends up over the crown and down on to the upper back. The rest of the upperparts are mostly blackish, except for the rufous upper tail feathers which has a black subterminal bar. The underparts are mainly white, apart from a dark throat and dark blotches which extend along the flanks. Juveniles resemble the adults, but have a browner upperparts, creamy rather than white underparts and lack the dark throat.
Distribution and movements
The red-necked buzzard occurs in a broad band running from
Mauritania
Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...
south to
Liberia
Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast ...
then eastwards to
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
and
Uganda
}), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The ...
, as well as south along the
Gulf of Guinea
The Gulf of Guinea is the northeasternmost part of the tropical Atlantic Ocean from Cape Lopez in Gabon, north and west to Cape Palmas in Liberia. The intersection of the Equator and Prime Meridian (zero degrees latitude and longitude) is i ...
coast through
Gabon
Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the nort ...
to the
Democratic Republic of Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...
and north-eastern
Angola
, national_anthem = "Angola Avante"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capital = Luanda
, religion =
, religion_year = 2020
, religion_ref =
, coordinat ...
.
[
The red-necked buzzard is a partial migrant, the northern populations may be completely migrant which leave the savanna following the rains and spend the dry season to the south along the edge of the main forest zone.][
]
Habitat
The red-necked buzzard prefers forest edges and clearings, including those within secondary and primary forests but it occurs in cultivated areas and is generally absent from the main areas of lowland rainforest
Habits
The red-necked buzzard normally hunts by sitting in wait on a perch, scanning the ground for prey which is caught by a swooping dive down on to the prey. It is a generalist hunter and the prey taken consists of a wide variety of small animals including rodent
Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are n ...
s, birds, lizard
Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia altho ...
s and snake
Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more ...
s, as well as arthropod
Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and cuticle made of chiti ...
s and especially termite
Termites are small insects that live in colonies and have distinct castes ( eusocial) and feed on wood or other dead plant matter. Termites comprise the infraorder Isoptera, or alternatively the epifamily Termitoidae, within the order Blat ...
s.[
This species builds a stick nest which is situated in the upper fork of a large forest tree, on cliff ledges or on pylons, pairs will utilise same nest site in successive years. The clutch size is normally one or two eggs, which are probably laid in November to January in the northern part of its range and later in the south, where young have been seen in the nest in August.][
]
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1078626
red-necked buzzard
Birds of Sub-Saharan Africa
red-necked buzzard
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot