About 30, see text Asturina Buteo is a genus of medium to fairly large, wide-ranging raptors with a robust body and broad wings.
The upland is rivaled in weight and outsized in foot measurements and bill size by the ferruginous hawk.
The flight style varies based on the body type and wing shape and surface size.
[6][7] All Buteo species are to some extent opportunistic when it comes to hunting, and prey on almost any type of small animal as it becomes available to them.
[5][7] Other smallish mammals, such as shrews, moles, pikas, bats, and weasels, tend to be minor secondary prey, although can locally be significant for individual species.
[5][7] Larger mammals, such as rabbits, hares, and marmots, including even adult specimens weighing as much as 2 to 3 kg (4.4 to 6.6 lb), may be hunted by the heaviest and strongest species, such as ferruginous,[7][10][11] red-tailed[12] and white-tailed hawks.
[14] The Hawaiian hawk, which evolved on an isolated group of islands with no terrestrial mammals, was also initially a bird specialist, although today it preys mainly on introduced rodents.
[5] Swainson's hawk, despite its somewhat large size, is something of exceptional insect-feeding specialist and may rely almost fully on crickets and dragonflies when wintering in southern South America.
[5] The importance of carrion in the Old World "buzzard" species is relatively higher since these often seem slower and less active predators than their equivalents in the Americas.
[17][18][19] Most Buteo species seem to prefer to ambush prey by pouncing down to the ground directly from a perch.
In a secondary approach, many spot prey from a great distance while soaring and circle down to the ground to snatch it.
Generally from 2 to 4 eggs are laid by the female and are mostly incubated by her, while the male mate provides food.
After a stage averaging a couple of weeks, the fledglings take the adults‘ increasing indifference to feeding them or occasional hostile behavior towards them as a cue to disperse on their own.
Generally, young Buteos tend to disperse several miles away from their nesting grounds and wander for one to two years until they can court a mate and establish their own breeding range.
Any of the prior mentioned common Buteo species may have total populations that exceed a million individuals.
[57] If this is so, the bird can be expected to aid in untangling the complicated evolutionary history of the common buzzard group.
The prehistoric species "Aquila" danana, Buteogallus fragilis (Fragile eagle), and Spizaetus grinnelli were at one time also placed in Buteo.