.יטיע בקע (123






Long-legged Buzzard
Long-legged Buzzard
Long-legged Buzzard




Buteo rufinus
Buteo rufinus
Buteo rufinus


לארשי

.ובנזב םיספ רסחו רתוי ריהב ותש ,ולדוגב ונממ לדבנ ,ףרוח בקעל המוד :יטיע בקע
vulpinus. יחרזמה ןזל המוד ידולחה עפומה ,ופנכ תיתחתב ןבל םתכו ההכ ונטב
.ףרוחה בקע יריעצמ םילדבנ םניא םארמבו ,ספסופמ בנז םיריעצל
.םייעלסו הצחמל םיירבדמ םירוזא ,תוברע ולודיג תיב
.רידנ חרוא רבועו יוצמ ףרוח ,יוצמ דע רידנ ביצי ץראב
Subspecies and Distribution.
B. r. rufinus S E Europe and Asia Minor through Iran and Afghanistan to Mongolia and N W India. Winters to N E Africa and N India.
B. r. cirtensis N Africa from Mauritania to Egypt and Arabia.

Descriptive notes.

50-65 cm, 590-1770 g wingspan 125-155 cm.
Extremely variable. From dark morph through reddish morph to very pale morph. Typical morph shows pale head, breast and tail contrasting with rufous belly, and lacks tail barring of most other buzzards. Dark carpal patches, rusty underwing coverts, flight feathers paler with black trailing edge and wing tip.
Female slightly larger than male. Juvenile has faintly barred tail, black on trailing edge of wing less marked. Race cirtinsis smaller, often paler, lacks dark morph.

Habitat.

Rocky or stony country, semi desert and steppe, also open woodland or woods with clearings, from plains and foothills to mountains.
In winter, widely scattered in variety of habitats, from desert to cultivation and wooded areas.
Uses prominent perches on trees, posts, rocks, etc.

Food and Feeding

Essentially a hunter of small mammals, particularly rodents, voles, mice, rats, gerbils, rabbits and pikas.
Sometimes reptiles, lizards and snakes, some small birds, amphibians and large insects.
Rather sluggish open waits for long periods on perch or on ground and also forages with soaring flight, hangs on wind, without beating wings, to survey ground.
Can take advantage of fires to prey escaping animals.

Breeding.

Mar-Apr. Nests on cliff ledges and crags, also in trees when available.
Bulky nest, of twigs and sticks, lined with greenery, wool or other materials. Sometimes several nests on same crag.
Both adults build nest, also uses old nests of other birds. 2-4 eggs, incubation 28 days.
Chicks have white first down, white to creamy white second down.

Movements.

Eurasian race migratory in N of breeding range and sedentary in S. Winters from Turkey, Middle East and Arabia to Pakistan, N India and Tibet.
North African race sedentary and dispersive having reached Senegal.

Status and Conservation.

Not globally threatened. Population sizes and trends little known.

Israel.

In Israel the subspecies B. r. rufinus. Uncommon resident, scarce passage migrant and quite common during winter.

B. r. rufinus
(in Israel)

B. r. cirtensis

B. r. cirtensis

B. r. rufinus

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