black-breasted buzzard

Historic records indicate the black-breasted buzzard became extinct in some areas of its former range by as early as the 1930s.

The black-breasted buzzard is usually monogamous, forming lifelong pair-bonds.

The black-breasted buzzard is striking in appearance due to the distinctive markings of the adult plumage.

There has been a significant decline amongst Australian raptor species including the black-breasted buzzard since European settlement in the late 1700s.

The black-breasted buzzard is widely but sparsely distributed throughout northern and inland Australia in areas with less than 500 mm annual rainfall.

Black-breasted buzzards sometimes nest in the IBA and red goshawks have been recorded there.

More frequent and intense wildfire events will also increasingly contribute to the decline of large trees and potential black-breasted buzzard habitat.

The black-breasted buzzard (Hamirostra melanosteron) is a large raptor endemic to mainland Australia.

The common call of the black-breasted buzzard is described as a repeated hoarse yelping or short sharp yap or yelp.

Black-breasted buzzard (Hamirostra melanosternon)

The current IUCN Red List ranks the black-breasted buzzard of Least Concern.

Other raptor species seen included Square-tailed Kite, Black-breasted Buzzard and Whistling Kite.

I missed out again on some species including the Black Falcon, Black-breasted Buzzard and Ground Cuckoo-shrike, for which only brief or distant views were obtained.

Recent studies have assessed the black-breasted buzzard as one of many avian species of particular conservation concern in the Western Division of New South Wales.

Found to occur in wooded and open habitats, the black-breasted buzzard is most commonly observed in riparian forests and tall-open woodlands surrounded by mid-dense shrublands.

They might also be confused with the black-breasted buzzard (Hamirostra melanosternon), but this species is much smaller, has white patches on the wings, and has a more undulating flight.

The black-breasted buzzard has a varied diet including carrion that may afford it some resilience in the face of intense drought when carcasses of perished large mammals become abundant.

The black-breasted buzzard hunts a variety of reptiles, small mammals and birds, and raids bird nests to steal eggs and nestlings, including those of other raptor species.

Birds that can be seen on the Kings Canyon Rim walk include spinifex pigeon, zebra finch, grey-headed honeyeater, dusky grasswren, black-breasted buzzard and peregrine falcon.

We started with a morning walk at the Old Telegraph Station and then left the granite country to enter stretches of open woodland where Black-breasted Buzzards soared above the highway.

Experts now group the red goshawk with the superficially dissimilar black-breasted buzzard Hamirostra melanosternon and square-tailed kite Lophoictinia isura as one of the Australasian old endemic raptors.

The black-breasted buzzard lays its eggs from August to October, with breeding believed to be stimulated by increased day length, as well as by increased food availability often linked to rainfall events.

Intermediate in body size between the well-known larger wedge-tailed eagle (Aquila audax) and the smaller little eagle (Hieraaetus morphnoides), the black-breasted buzzard is one of Australia's largest birds of prey.

Perhaps the most thrilling part of each park day takes place in the outdoor Nature Theater around 3:30 P.M., when three of these birds - the wedgetail eagle, the black-breasted buzzard and the barn owl - are fed.