The Common Buzzard

Awed and inspired by wildlife, and especially raptors, both Sean Walls and Robert Kenward read Zoology at the University of Oxford before going on to carry out radio-tracking and other research on a variety of animals. In 1990, they started a project on the Common Buzzard with the government agency The Institute of Terrestrial Ecology and the company Biotrack Ltd. Until that point, Buzzards had only been studied visually, but by using radio-tracking techniques to study many individuals the team were able to conduct groundbreaking research on survival, foraging and dispersal movements of the species. Sean Walls has spent the last 30 years advising people on the best animal-tracking equipment, and currently directs the Avian Segment for Lotek Wireless Inc. During this time he has also enjoyed free-flying a Common Buzzard, acquired from domestic breeding, which has helped provide invaluable insights into their behaviour. Sean is currently an Associate Editor of the Journal of Raptor Research. Robert Kenward has been conducting fieldwork and writing books, including A Manual for Wildlife Radio Tagging and The Goshawk, to inform and help ecologists for 40 years, with interludes for wider technology transfer. He now chairs groups for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and still enjoys working with raptors and conservation networks, both local and global.

Preface
1 A Common Buzzard
2 Prey
3 Hunting
4 Habitat use
5 Territoriality and nest defence
6 Courtship and nesting
7 Incubating and chick-rearing
8 Dispersal and migration
9 Longevity and survival
10 Common Buzzard populations
11 Our relationship with the Common Buzzard
Appendix 1 Scientific names of species mentioned in the text
Appendix 2 References for figures with many sources
Appendix 3 Map of UK study sites and flightpaths
Appendix 4 Abbreviations
References
Index