Eastern buzzard

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 is 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]

Eastern buzzard
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Accipitriformes
Family:	Accipitridae
Genus:	Buteo
Species:	B. japonicus
Binomial name
Buteo japonicus Temminck & Schlegel, 1845
Subspecies[2]
B. j. burmanicus - Hume, 1875 B. j. japonicus - Temminck & Schlegel, 1845 B. j. toyoshimai - Momiyama, 1927 B. j. oshiroi - Kuroda, Nagahisa, 1971

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.