Eastern buzzard
Species of bird
The eastern buzzard or Japanese buzzard (Buteo japonicus) is a medium to large bird of prey that is sometimes considered a subspecies of the widespread common buzzard (Buteo buteo). It was formerly treated as a subspecies of the common buzzard, but molecular phylogenetic studies revealed that B. buteo as then circumscribed was polyphyletic, leading to the recognition of the eastern buzzard and Himalayan buzzard (B. refectus) as distinct species. It is native to East Asia and some parts of Russia and South Asia, with some birds wintering in Southeast Asia. It is similar to the steppe buzzard. It is carnivorous.
It includes four subspecies:
- B. j. burmanicus: breeds in Siberia, Mongolia, northern China, and North Korea, winters in Southeast Asia
- B. j. japonicus: breeds only in Japan, winters from southern Japan to southeastern China and Taiwan
- B. j. toyoshimai: Izu Islands and Bonin Islands
- B. j. oshiroi: Daito Islands
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Eastern buzzard”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Buteo japonicus1.jpg by NOZO, CC BY 3.0
- Buteo vulgaris japonicus Fauna Japonica.jpg by Philipp Franz von Siebold, Public domain
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