Buzzard nest with a difference

We were contacted recently by Sam Bayley with the following fascinating story:

Early June marks the time when I check out a few of the many raptor nests that are present in my local area. After discovering three active Buzzard nests and a Kestrel nest I got a small team together including the invaluable help of tree climbers Max Varney and Sam Baker. The first two Buzzard nests and the Kestrel nest were very straightforward with broods of one and two Buzzards and a good brood of five Kestrels, but the third Buzzard nest at South Holmwood was something entirely different!

I had ringed this nest in 2014 when it contained three chicks and it was very typical with lots of evidence of rabbit unsurprisingly being the main food supply. It was very evident even from the base of the tree that this year was different, with a scattering of feathers on the ground below the nest. On reaching the nest Max and Sam found two Buzzard chicks and an unhatched egg surrounded by the remains of various species of bird. Buzzards will take birds, but only occasionally as they aren’t particularly adept at catching them and when they do it is usually limited to chicks or newly fledged birds. The species identifiable were Stock Dove (adult), Jackdaw (adult and nestling), Jay (newly fledged), Moorhen (adult), Great-spotted Woodpecker (adult) and a single Rabbit bone! It looked more like the contents of a Goshawk nest rather than a Buzzard’s, but obviously this pair had become incredibly proficient at catching these birds.

The two Buzzard chicks. Photo by Max Varney

If that wasn’t unusual enough, Max and Sam could hear another bird calling from the nest and eventually realised that it was a Jackdaw chick which was in its own nest within the structure of the Buzzard nest! The adult Jackdaws had created a tunnel into the side of the nest with a chamber at the end, less than 30cm below the cup of the nest! The Jackdaw chick was much younger than its Buzzard counterparts, so I can only assume that the Jackdaws started nesting after the Buzzards were already in residence. 

The entrance to the Jackdaw nest. The two Buzzard chicks
are just visible in the top of the nest. Photo by Max Varney

The Jackdaw chick. Photo by Sam Bayley

Only an end of nesting visit will tell whether they all survive!

Freezing feathered friends

As the cold weather continues we are finding that birds are still having a tough time trying to cope with the temperature. We are currently on day 6 for England and Wales of cold weather and Scotland has a statutory suspension of wildfowling. The current cold weather situation can be found at our new website.

As we reported previously, birds of prey, especially Barn Owls are being found in poor condition or dead due to the lack of food. Last week we had 39 reports of dead Barn Owls, 3 Buzzard (one of which was 24 years old) and Kestrel, ET51185 which is in care at the moment due to "snow and ice" and is 12 years old. With many water bodies now frozen, wildfowl are finding it particularly difficult and recoveries included 4 Mute Swans and a Grey Heron.


We haven't seen a big increase in reports of small passerines yet, but this could be because their bodies are covered in snow. The reporting rate might increase when things defrost but we'll see. Next summers Breeding Bird Survey and CES will be interesting to analyse for sure.

Note that these are reports and cold weather might not be the exact cause of death.
Thanks to Neil Calbrade for the photo of the ringed Snow Bunting in the snow.

Buzzard meets Chimpanzee

Eyebrows were raised this morning over a report of a ringed Buzzard from Monkey World in Wareham, Dorset. This involved a rather unfortunate Buzzard that managed to find its way into the Chimpanzee enclosure at the site... It may have been in trouble anyway, having canvas string caught around it neck, but when found this morning was missing its head and one wing!

GF17932 (its BTO ring number) was originally ringed as a chick in the nest in June 1993, making it nearly 16 years old at its unfortunate demise (the oldest BTO-ringed bird died at 24 years old)! It probably hadn't ventured far in this time though, being ringed only 5km from Monkey World.

This isn't your normal food chain link, but Buzzards can be versatile too... See the recent story of a Buzzard catching a Grey Phalarope, amazingly caught on camera by birder Paul Freestone.