Eurasian Hobby (Falco subbuteo)

OTHER NAMES: Hobby, Northern Hobby

Latin Etymology: Falco ("falcon") subbuteo ("near-buzzard")

 Adult Eurasian Hobby (subspecies F. s. subbuteo) at Summer Leys, Northants - May 2021

Featured Subspecies: Falco subbuteo subbuteo
Weight: 175-285g  /  Length: 29-36cm  /  Wingspan: 78-84cm
UK GREEN LIST / IUCN Red List: Least Concern

The Hobby is a small falcon which specialises in high speed hunting in the air, mainly feeding on small birds an insects. It's Britain's only migratory falcon and arrives in the summer. While present mainly around reservoirs and wetlands, they are apparently also found in open country with copses, but I suspect the wetland habitats are easier. I've struggled for a while to try and see this species, and when I finally did encounter it, I ran into a variation of "the swift problem". The basic issue being that as they hunt in the air, are relatively small and are very fast moving training a camera on them in flight is difficult - fortunately they are bigger than swifts and thus easily to capture in wider shots using scenery as a landscape focusing point if like me you don't have a manual zoom which can be operated by hand.

Related Species:

Order: Falconiformes
Family: Falconidae
Genus: Falco
Subspecies: F. s. subbuteo, F. s. streichi

- Sighting Locations -

UNITED KINGDOM - Scarce Summer migrant breeding species (2,800 birds)

 - Seen at Rutland Water, Rainham Marshes and Cliffe Pools.  Passage birds seen in Geddington.

Further Notes: BirdForum Opus, IUCN Red List, RSPB, Wikipedia, Xeno-canto .

Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo)

OTHER NAMES: Buzzard

Latin Etymology: Buteo ("buzzard") buteo ("buzzard")

Adult intermediate variant Common Buzzard (subspecies B. b. buteo) at Geddington, Northants - April 2017

Featured Subspecies: Buteo buteo buteo
Weight: 400g-1400g  /  Length: 40-58cm  /  Wingspan: 109-136cm

UK GREEN LIST / IUCN Red List: Least Concern

While the common buzzard once suffered catastrophic population decline as a result of DDT and persecution from landowners, legislation to prevent these issues has now allowed it to become the most common species of raptor in the British Isles.  For an example of this, during a car journey down to Cornwall I will often see more than twenty of them along pretty much every section of the route down. Their large size makes them easier to photograph than they could be, however, I've found them to be oddly more tolerant of cars than they are of pedestrians - the best views I have had tend to be from cars while they perch on roadside fences and trees, while similar distances on foot cause them to take off. They tend to be higher flying than Red Kites in my area, making photos of them slightly harder to get to good quality, but they do also feed on fields sometimes.  They do turn up in a range colour variations, largely in different colour combinations of white and brown, which makes them a bit of a hazard when identifying other similar sized raptors.  I also saw this species on both trips to Spain, but given the much larger number of raptors it shares its habitat with, it's seemingly far less ubiquitous than in the UK.

Related Species:
Order: Accipitriformes
Family: Accipitridae
Genus: Buteo
Subspecies: B. b. buteo, B. b. arrigonii, B. b. rothschildi, B. b. insularum, B. b. vulpines, B. b. menetriesi

- Sighting Locations -

UNITED KINGDOM - Common breeding resident (57,000-79,000 pairs)

 - Birds seen at various sites including Rutland Water, Pitsford Reservoir and Geddington.

ITALY - Italian -  Poiana Comune ("Common Buzzard")

A common resident

 - SICILY 2018 TRIP -  Seen throughout.

SPAIN - Spanish - Ratonero común ("Common Buzzard")

Fairly common resident.

 - SEVILLE 2011 TRIP: A single bird at El Rocio

 - MADRID 2015 TRIP: Several on farmland North of Madrid 

Further Notes: BirdForum Opus, IUCN Red List, RSPB, Wikipedia, Xeno-canto

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Red Kite (Milvus milvus)

OTHER NAMES: Fork-tail,  Puttock, Baegez

Latin Etymology: Milvus ("kite") milvus ("kite")

Adult Red Kite (subspecies M. m. milvus) at Geddington, Northants - November 2011

Featured Subspecies: Milvus milvus milvus
Weight: 800-1300g  /  Length: 60-70cm  /  Wingspan: 175-179cm

UK AMBER LIST / IUCN Red List Near Threatened

Now realistically for me, Red Kite's are no longer elusive, in fact I see them practically every day I walk from my house for any distance, yet I realise that nationally they are still still expanding their range, although it has got to the point where I have seen them in many counties. I'd still suggest around the Kettering/Corby area of Northamptonshire if you are really struggling to see them and don't want to go to Wales - the birds here are established and used to people and so great views are possible.  They do however still face threats - the bird in this photo had suffered a minor poisoning from eating something it shouldn't have and had to be taken into care.  I also saw this species in both trips to Spain, but as with buzzards, the sheer variety of large raptors (including it's locally more common cousin, the black kite) keeps them dominating in the same way they do in my area.

Related Species: 
Order: Accipitriformes
Family: Milvinae
Genus: Milvus
Subspecies: M. m. milvus, M. m. fasciicausa*

 - Sighting Locations -
UNITED KINGDOM - Breeding resident increasing following reintroduction (3000+ pairs)

 - Birds seen in a number of locations, but most regularly around Geddington.

SPAIN - Spanish - Milano reál ("Royal Kite")

Fairly common resident.

 - SEVILLE 2011 TRIP: A single bird at El Rocio
 - MADRID 2015 TRIP: Several on farmland North of Madrid 
 - MADRID 2016 TRIP: Several on farmland near Madrid 

* It is currently unclear as to whether this represents a subspecies of Red or Black Kite, or a hybrid of the two or a species in it's own right. 

Further Notes: BirdForum Opus, IUCN Red List, RSPB, Wikipedia, Xeno-canto

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