191 
True Buzzards 
Heavily built Hawks of medium or very large size (Figures 201-4, 
and 202-5 and 7). Bill without notches or tooth-like projections (like 
Figure 206, compare with 229). The wings are round like the Accipiters 
(Figure 205) , but broader. The tail is long, full , and generally carried spread 
out in a broad semicircle (Figures 214, 216, 217). The first three or four 
primaries are emarginate (Figures 213, 215), and with the exception of 
the Red-shouldered Hawk, which is very rare or entirely absent in western 
Canada, they are usually solidly coloured, with little barring and more or 
less of a white area at their bases underneath. Most western representa- 
tives of this group show remarkable dichromatism, one extreme of which 
is very dark brown, almost black, and substantially alike in all species 
affected. The Genus Buteo has bare tarsi (like Figure 211), but Archibuteo 
is feathered to the base of the toes (Figure 219). 
Field Marks. Round, broad wings; broad, full tail (Figures 201-4 and 202-5 and 7), 
and habits of soaring high in the open make the best field marks for the Buzzards. 
These are the true Buzzards. The Turkey Vulture is incorrectly called “Buzzard” 
in the south. Buzzards lack the dash, speed, and spirit of either the Accipiters or the 
Falcons and specialize on less active game. They often feed on insects and occasionally 
on carrion. They are the common mgh-flying Hawks of summer, can be seen circling 
high in the air or perched sentinel-like on fence or telegraph pole, scanning the open land- 
scape. They are birds of the open, as the Accipiters are of the brush, and are not given to 
quick dashes through the shrubbery like their agile relatives. They are the Hawks that 
build the great bulky nests in the larger trees of the prairie bluffs, in the coulees, or on the 
ground on steep hillsides. 
Economic Status. As a class the Buzzards are the most useful as well 
as the largest of our Hawks. Some of the largest of them have scarcely a 
black mark against them. They live throughout the summer almost 
entirely on rodents. Although there is a slight reservation in the approval 
with which the Red-tailed Hawk is regarded in the east, there is no doubt 
as to its usefulness throughout the prairie region, as it is amongst the fore- 
most of gopher destroyers. Wherever rodent vermin is a detrimental 
agricultural factor, this group of Hawks may be regarded as valuable allies 
of the farmer. Its members have a marked preference for furred, over 
feathered, food, and their large size and capacity ensure that their activities 
are on sufficient scale to be of value. 
Figure 213 
Four notched primaries of Red-tailed Hawk; scale, i- 
337. Red- tailed Hawk (Including Western, Krider’s, Harlan’s, and Alaska 
Red-tailed Hawks), hen hawk. Buteo borealis. L, 20. Plate XXVI A. One of our two 
largest Buzzards. Characteristic adults have brick-red tails, but western birds are so 
variable that this or any colour character make uncertain criterion for identification. 
Though in the east the Red-tailed is practically constant in coloration, its only marked 
variation being two age-plumages, in the west the case is quite different. The western 
bird not only shows the same two age-plumages, but also appears in two distinct colorations, 
one of which is solidly near-black, with many intermediates between it and a much whiter 
opposite extreme, thus making an almost infinite number of colour variations. As three 
other species of comparable size show a similar dichromatism and are inseparable from the 
Red-tailed by colour in the dark phase, the difficulty in distinguishing the species is great 
Fortunately there are other characters besides colour to assist in identification. 
