[Closed] BirdTrackWorld Q

yes

is it on a treadmill?

Yes, seen it many times. Buzzards are very good at soaring, so can happily sit on the updraught and basically slope-soar. They've got very deep wings, so don't need to flap. Barn owls can hover in still air as well, just like a kestrel.

A kestrel, yesterday, wondering what all the fuss is about... 😀

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Yes. I have also heard it suggested by birders that it's a skill buzzards have only learned in the last 50 or so years, as it was not observed previously. I'm sceptical personally.

There's a Buzzard that does this on Lundie Crags north of Dundee

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/121754

Bit odd when I saw it, as it followed me down the length of the crag.

Yes, I thought only kestrels could hover but when out on a birdwatching trip on Mull I saw several doing it and our guide confirmed that both buzzards and kestrels can do so

Never seen an owl doing it

that's cos it's dark, innit?

Barn owls hunt in daylight, as do short-eared owls. Have you never seen film of barn owls on TV, hunting across fields, then stopping and hovering, before dropping on their prey? I've actually watched them do it in the wild.
They can't keep up a sustained hover, like kestrels can, but they can hover for twenty or thirty seconds, while sighting on the target.
http://www.barnowltrust.org.uk/infopage.html?Id=4

Flight

Compared to most birds Barn Owls have a very low wing loading (large wings supporting a lightweight body) this means they are able to fly very slowly without stalling and hover in only the slightest lift (rising air). Slow flight gives the birds ample time to locate and pinpoint prey on the ground below, and the low wing loading enables them to pass through the air very gently and hover with minimal effort. The owls' feathers are very soft - another adaptation for quiet flight. The flight feathers are covered in a layer of tiny hairs that trap air within the feather surface and the foremost wing feather (the tenth primary) also has a row of tiny hooks that help to deaden the sound of air hitting the wings' leading edge. Almost-silent flight enables the birds to hear the tiny sounds produced by their small mammal prey and approach them undetected.

- See more at: http://www.barnowltrust.org.uk/infopage.html?Id=4#sthash.LNEToike.dpuf

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Yes. And witnessed.

Still a great bird though 🙂

Some crow pondered having a go but flew when they saw these three 🙂

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I would gladly deficate on their heads

I've seen a red kite outmanoeuvre a buzzard, so question two is - Can a red kite hover?

with the right wind yes but probably not with the same precision that a kestrel can.

Buzzards and kites don't hover as elegently as a kestrel does. They tend to hang in the air using air movement to err hang in the air.

i thought that the rough legged buzzard could hover, but the common buzzard couldnt. happy to be proved wrong though

http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/r/roughleggedbuzzard/