Editing Common buzzard (section)

==Status==
[[File:Common Buzzard (Steppe Buzzard), Buteo buteo vulpinus, on a fence along the R42, Gauteng, South Africa (32070091223).jpg|thumb|left|A wintering steppe buzzard in [[South Africa]].]]
The common buzzard is one of the most numerous birds of prey in its range. Almost certainly, it is the most numerous diurnal bird of prey throughout Europe. Conservative estimates put the total population at no fewer than 700,000 pairs in Europe, which are more than twice the total estimates for the next four birds of prey estimated as most common: the [[Eurasian sparrowhawk]] (more than 340,000 pairs), the [[common kestrel]] (more than 330,000 pairs) and the [[northern goshawk]] (more than 160,000 pairs).<ref name= BirdlifeEurope/> Ferguson-Lees et al. roughly estimated that the total population of the common buzzard ranges to nearly 5 million pairs but at time was including the now split-off species of [[Eastern buzzard|eastern]] and [[Himalayan buzzard]]s in those numbers.<ref name= Ferguson-Lees/> These numbers may be excessive but the total population of common buzzards is certain to total well over seven figures.<ref name="iucn" /><ref name= Ferguson-Lees/> More recently, the [[IUCN]] estimated the common buzzard (sans the Himalayan and eastern subspecies) to number somewhere between 2.1 and 3.7 million birds, which would put this buzzard one of the most numerous of all accipitrid family members (estimates for Eurasian sparrowhawks, red-tailed hawks and northern goshawks also may range over 2 million).<ref name="iucn" /> In 1991, other than their absence in [[Iceland]], after having been extent as breeder by 1910, buzzards recolonized [[Ireland]] sometime in the 1950s and has increased by the 1990s to 26 pairs.<ref name= Ferguson-Lees/><ref name= Rooney/> Supplemental feeding has reportedly helped the Irish buzzard population to rebound, especially where rabbits have decreased.<ref name= Rooney2/> Most other countries have at least four figures of breeding pairs. As of the 1990s, other countries such as [[United Kingdom|Great Britain]], [[France]], [[Switzerland]], [[Czech Republic]], [[Poland]], [[Sweden]], [[Belarus]] and [[Ukraine]] all numbered pairs well into five figures, while [[Germany]] had an estimated 140,000 pairs and European Russian may have held 500,000 pairs.<ref name= Ferguson-Lees/><ref name= BirdlifeEurope/> Between 44,000 and 61,000 pairs nested in [[Great Britain]] by 2001 with numbers gradually increasing after past persecution, habitat alteration and prey reductions, making it by far the most abundant diurnal raptor there.<ref name= Clements>Clements, R. (2002). ''The Common Buzzard in Britain''. British Birds, 95, 377–383.</ref> In [[Westphalia]], Germany, population of buzzards was shown to nearly triple over the last few decades. The Westphalian buzzards are possibly benefiting from increasingly warmer mean climate, which in turn is increasing vulnerability of voles. However, the rate of increase was significantly greater in males than in females, in part because of reintroduced [[Eurasian eagle-owl]]s to the region preying on nests (including the brooding mother), which may in turn put undue pressure on the local buzzard population.<ref>Jonker, R. M., Chakarov, N., & Krüger, O. (2014). ''Climate change and habitat heterogeneity drive a population increase in Common Buzzards Buteo buteo through effects on survival''. Ibis, 156(1), 97–106.</ref>

At least 238 common buzzards killed through persecution were recovered in [[England]] from 1975 to 1989, largely through poisoning. Persecution did not significantly differ at any time due this span of years nor did the persecution rates decrease, nor did it when compared to rates of last survey of this in 1981.<ref>Elliott, G. D., & Avery, M. I. (1991). ''A review of reports of buzzard persecution 1975–1989''. Bird Study, 38(1), 52–56.</ref> While some persecution persists in England, it is probably slightly less common today.<ref name= Clements/> The buzzard was found to be the most vulnerable raptor to power-line collision fatalities in [[Spain]] probably as it is one of the most common largish birds, and together with the [[common raven]], it accounted for nearly a third of recorded electrocutions.<ref>Janss, G. F. (2000). ''Avian mortality from power lines: a morphologic approach of a species-specific mortality. '' Biological Conservation, 95(3), 353–359.</ref> Given its relative abundance, the common buzzard is held as an ideal [[bioindicator]], as they are effected by a range of pesticide and metal contamination through pollution like other raptors but are largely resilient to these at the population levels. In turn, this allows biologists to study (and [[harvest]] if needed) the buzzards intensively and their environments without affecting their overall population. The lack of affect may be due to the buzzard's adaptability as well as its relatively short, terrestrially-based food chain, which exposes them to less risk of contamination and population depletions than raptors that prey more heavily on water-based prey (such as some large eagles) or other birds (such as [[falcon]]s).<ref>Naccari, C., Cristani, M., Cimino, F., Arcoraci, T., & Trombetta, D. (2009). ''Common buzzards (Buteo buteo) bio-indicators of heavy metals pollution in Sicily (Italy)''. Environment international, 35(3), 594–598.</ref><ref>Carneiro, M., Colaço, B., Brandão, R., Ferreira, C., Santos, N., Soeiro, V., & Lavín, S. (2014). ''Biomonitoring of heavy metals (Cd, Hg, and Pb) and metalloid (As) with the Portuguese common buzzard (Buteo buteo)''. Environmental monitoring and assessment, 186(11), 7011–7021.</ref><ref>Jager, L. P., Rijnierse, F. V., Esselink, H., & Baars, A. J. (1996). ''Biomonitoring with the Buzzard Buteo buteo in the Netherlands: heavy metals and sources of variation''. Journal für Ornithologie, 137(3), 295–318.</ref><ref>Manosa, S., Mateo, R., Freixa, C., & Guitart, R. (2003). ''Persistent organochlorine contaminants in eggs of northern goshawk and Eurasian buzzard from northeastern Spain: temporal trends related to changes in the diet''. Environmental Pollution, 122(3), 351–359.</ref><ref>Tubbs, C. R. (1967). ''Population study of Buzzards in the New Forest during 1962–66''. British Birds, 60(10), 381–395.</ref> Common buzzards are seldom vulnerable to egg-shell thinning from [[DDT]] as are other raptors but egg-shell thinning has been recorded.<ref>Ratcliffe, D. A. (1967). ''Decrease in eggshell weight in certain birds of prey''. Nature, 215(5097), 208.</ref> Other factors that negatively effect raptors have been studied in common buzzards are [[Parasitic worms|helminths]], [[avipoxvirus]] and assorted other [[virus]]es.<ref>Santoro, M., Tripepi, M., Kinsella, J. M., Panebianco, A., & Mattiucci, S. (2010). ''Helminth infestation in birds of prey (Accipitriformes and Falconiformes) in Southern Italy''. The Veterinary Journal, 186(1), 119–122.</ref><ref>Shirazi, S., Hesaraki, S., Mostafaei, T. S., & Davoodi, J. (2014). ''First report on Centrorhynchus aluconis in common buzzard (Buteo buteo) in northwest Iran''. Acta Veterinaria, 64(2), 276–280.</ref><ref>ÖZMEN, Ö., & DORRESTEIN, G. M. (2002). ''Avipox in a common buzzard (Buteo buteo)''. Turkish Journal of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, 26(5), 1193–1195.</ref><ref>Frölich, K., Prusas, C., Schettler, E., & Hafez, H. M. (2002). ''Antibodies to adenoviruses in free-living common buzzards from Germany''. Journal of wildlife diseases, 38(3), 633–636.</ref>