Buteo japonicus
Silhouette: Lauren Anderson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
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
Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, B.L. Sullivan, C. L. Wood, and D. Roberson. 2011. The Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.6. Downloaded from https://web.archive.org/web/20100821172048/http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/downloadable... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nikko National Park | 🇯🇵 Japan | |
| 2 | Taroko National Park | 🇹🇼 Taiwan | |
| 3 | Doi Inthanon National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shanghai Zoo | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 2 | Edogawa Ward Natural Zoo | 🇯🇵 Japan |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report an Eastern Buzzard sighting in Hong Kong on a given day, based on 152 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 57th most-seen of the 204 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
November to March
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report an Eastern Buzzard in Hong Kong on a given day, against under 5% in April to October, the lowest months. Those are among Hong Kong's driest months, with about 40 mm of rain a month against 280 mm in June.
Between 2 and 5 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Eastern Buzzard sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
20th of 34
Of the 34 cities where we can rate Eastern Buzzard sightings, Hong Kong ranks 20th at about 10%. The best odds are in Quanzhou (China, about 20%), Jinhua (China, about 20%) and Sendai (Japan, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Eastern Buzzard is recorded against all the birds logged in Hong Kong (152 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
