Buzzard attack + rant

[brownysfp]

They've never taken a full-size bird, only youngsters, but they've tried. One extremely optimistic buzzard had a go at a Brahma girl. Lots of flying feathers and hen hysteria but happily nothing else.

 

[Ole rooster]

Then a buzzard is a buzzard and not a vulture. A vulture is a killer and a hunter. A buzzard cleans up what's been killed or dies and rots. A vulture kills for their meal. I've never know a buzzard to kill, it likes the soft tissue of rotted meat. In Georgia I've not heard of killer vultures. To me calling a vulture a buzzard is akin to calling a bengal tiger a house cat. It just ain't so.

 

[sourland]

The European buzzard is a completely different bird from our buzzards. They are a relatively large, brown raptor.

 

[woodmort]

Quote:
Yeah, you're talking apples and oranges. In the USA we tend to mix buzzards/vultures--turkey vultures and black vultures are often called buzzards, which they aren't--together as a single group both of which feed on carrion. As far as I know neither of these species in the US will bother anything that is not dead or nearly so, they aren't equipped to attack live animals. There is one species--the Caracara--which is found in Texas and Florida--that looks vulture-like which, while it prefers carrion, can be a predator.

 

[Attila the Hen]

Quote:
That answers the question of different experiences across the water.

 

[brownysfp]

Sorry to have caused confusion over the difference between European and American buzzard definitions: yes, a medium to large raptor with three colour variants, the usual being a medium brown. There are a fair number of the light version around but I've only ever seen one of dark ones.
As for vultures, Griffons were re-introduced into the Massif Central in 2006 (I think). We live in that geographical region but are far from the mountains. Saying that, vultures from the Pyrenees have been found in Belgium and the Netherlands.

 

[D3invertebrates]

Even here in Texas what we call a buzzard is really just a turkey vulture and normally they would only eat dead stuff. They have been going kinda crazy lately, last week I saw a buzzard go after another large bird in a tree, they both fell hard out of the tree, I was standing on the edge of the wood so I couldnt see where they fell but I did hear the thump, I would think it killed them by what I saw. Im pretty sure its the weather, so many animals have been acting unusual this past year. There was even a deal on the news awhile back where an eagle killed some womans cat.

 

[aprophet]

Quote:
young or sick = easy meal