Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 13, 2026

Eastern buzzard

The eastern buzzard or Japanese buzzard is a medium to large bird of prey that is sometimes considered a subspecies of the widespread common buzzard. Some scientists treated it as a distinct species starting in 2008, but others still treat it as either one or three subspecies. 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.

Last revised
Jun 13, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
313 w
Citations
4
Source
Wikipedia ↗
Eastern buzzard
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Accipitriformes
Family: Accipitridae
Genus: Buteo
Species:
B. japonicus
Binomial name
Buteo japonicus
Subspecies2
  • B. j. burmanicus - Hume, 1875
  • B. j. japonicus - Temminck & Schlegel, 1845
  • B. j. toyoshimai - Momiyama, 1927
  • B. j. oshiroi - Kuroda, Nagahisa, 1971

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). Some scientists treated it as a distinct species starting in 2008, but others still treat it as either one or three subspecies. It is native to East Asia and some parts of Russia and South Asia, with some birds wintering in Southeast Asia.1 It is similar to the steppe buzzard. It is carnivorous.3

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
  • B. j. toyoshimai: Izu Islands and Bonin Islands
  • B. j. oshiroi: Daito Islands
Eastern buzzard as depicted by a Japanese artist. source ↗
References

References

  1. BirdLife International (2016). "Buteo japonicus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016 e.T22732232A95044430. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22732232A95044430.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. Gill F, D Donsker & P Rasmussen (Eds). 2020. IOC World Bird List (v10.2). doi : 10.14344/IOC.ML.10.2.
  3. Wang, Jiaojiao (2023). "Effects of Flight Disturbance on Bird Communities at Airports: Predatory Birds Rise to the Challenge". Pakistan Journal of Zoology. 56 (2). doi:10.17582/journal.pjz/20220913080930. ISSN 0030-9923.
External links