Mountain Buzzard

About the Mountain Buzzard

The mountain buzzard (Buteo oreophilus) is a bird of prey that lives in montane forests in East Africa, it and the forest buzzard (Buteo trizonatus) of southern Africa were, until recently, considered to be a single species.

A small buzzard and quite similar to the steppe buzzard Buteo buteo vulpinus, the migratory subspecies of the Palearctic common buzzard which winters over most of Africa. The adult has brown upperparts with paler underparts with heavy brown blotches on the breast, belly, flanks and underwing coverts. The underside of the flight feathers is barred with a distinct black band along the rear edge of the wing. The tail is brown above, light grey below and shows faint narrow bars which are broadest just before the tail tip. Juveniles are buffier below and less heavily marked than the adults.

The mountain buzzard occurs in the mountainous regions of eastern Africa from Ethiopia, west through Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan and Rwanda to eastern Democratic Republic of Congo then south into Tanzania, Burundi and Malawi.

This species occurs in montane forest and fragments of montane forest, including plantations of exotic trees... Wikipedia →