Editing Common buzzard (section)

===Similar species===
[[File:Forest Buzzard, Buteo trizonatus, at Hangklip Forest, Makhado, Limpopo Province, South Africa.jpg|thumb|Juvenile [[forest buzzard]]s of Africa are extremely easy to mistake for juvenile common buzzards of the steppe race that come to winter in Africa.]]
The common buzzard is often confused with other raptors especially in flight or at a distance. Inexperienced and over-enthusiastic observers have even mistaken darker birds for the far larger and differently proportioned [[golden eagle]] (''Aquila chrysaetos'') and also dark birds for [[western marsh harrier]] (''Circus aeruginosus'') which also flies in a dihedral but is obviously relatively much longer and slenderer winged and tailed and with far different flying methods. Also buzzards may possibly be confused with dark or light morph [[booted eagle]]s (''Hieraeetus pennatus''), which are similar in size, but the eagle flies on level, parallel-edged wings which usually appear broader, has a longer squarer tail, with no carpal patch in pale birds and all dark flight feathers but for whitish wedge on inner primaries in dark morph ones. Pale individuals are sometimes also mistaken with pale morph [[short-toed eagle]]s (''Circaetus gallicus'') which are much larger with a considerably bigger head, longer wings (which are usually held evenly in flight rather than in a dihedral) and paler underwing lacking any carpal patch or dark wing lining.<ref name= Ferguson-Lees/><ref name= Forsman/><ref name= Clark2/> More serious identification concerns lie in other ''Buteo'' species and in flight with [[Pernis (bird)|honey buzzard]]s, which are quite different looking when seen perched at close range. The [[European honey buzzard]] (''Pernis apivorus'') is thought in engage in mimicry of more powerful raptors, in particular, juveniles may mimic the plumage of the more powerful common buzzard.<ref>Duff, D. (2006). ''Has the juvenile plumage of Honey-buzzard evolved to mimic that of Common Buzzard?'' British Birds, 99, 118–128.</ref> While less individually variable in Europe, the honey buzzard is more extensive polymorphic on underparts than even the common buzzard. The most common morph of the adult European honey buzzard is heavily and rufous barred on the underside, quite different from the common buzzard, however the brownish juvenile much more resembles an intermediate common buzzard. Honey buzzards flap with distinctively slower and more even wing beats than common buzzard. The wings are also lifted higher on each upstroke, creating a more regular and mechanical effect, furthermore their wings are held slightly arched when soaring but not in a V. On the honey buzzard, the head appears smaller, the body thinner, the tail longer and the wings narrower and more parallel edged. The steppe buzzard race is particularly often mistaken for juvenile European honey buzzards, to the point where early observers of raptor migration in Israel considered distant individuals indistinguishable. However, when compared to a steppe buzzard, the honey buzzard has distinctly darker secondaries on the underwing with fewer and broader bars and more extensive black wing-tips (whole fingers) contrasting with a less extensively pale hand.<ref name= Ferguson-Lees/><ref name= Forsman/><ref name= Porter/> Found in the same range as the steppe buzzard in some parts of southern [[Siberia]] as well as (with wintering steppes) in southwestern [[India]], the [[Oriental honey buzzard]] (''Pernis ptilorhynchus'') is larger than both the European honey buzzard and the common buzzard. The oriental species is with more similar in body plan to common buzzards, being relatively broader winged, shorter tailed and more amply-headed (though the head is still relatively small) relative to the European honey buzzard, but all plumages lack carpal patches.<ref name= Ferguson-Lees/>

In much of Europe, the common buzzard is the only type of buzzard. However, the subarctic breeding [[rough-legged buzzard]] (''Buteo lagopus'') comes down to occupy much of the northern part of the continent during winter in the same haunts as the common buzzard. However, the [[rough-legged buzzard]] is typically larger and distinctly longer-winged with feathered legs, as well as having a white based tail with a broad subterminal band. Rough-legged buzzards have slower wing beats and hover far more frequently than do common buzzards. The carpal patch marking on the under-wing are also bolder and blacker on all paler forms of rough-legged hawk. Many pale morph rough-legged buzzards have a bold, blackish band across the belly against contrasting paler feathers, a feature which rarely appears in individual common buzzard. Usually the face also appears somewhat whitish in most pale morphs of rough-legged buzzards, which is true of only extremely pale common buzzards. Dark morph rough-legged buzzards are usually distinctly darker (ranging to almost blackish) than even extreme dark individuals of common buzzards in Europe and still have the distinct white-based tail and broad subterminal band of other roughlegs.<ref name= Ferguson-Lees/><ref name= Forsman/><ref name= Porter/> In [[eastern Europe]] and much of the Asian range of common buzzards, the [[long-legged buzzard]] (''Buteo rufinus'') may live alongside the common species. As in the steppe buzzard race, the long-legged buzzard has three main colour morphs that are more or less similar in hue. In both the steppe buzzard race and long-legged buzzard, the main colour is overall fairly rufous. More so than steppe buzzards, long-legged buzzards tend to have a distinctly paler head and neck compared to other feathers, and, more distinctly, a normally unbarred tail. Furthermore, the long-legged buzzard is usually a rather larger bird, often considered fairly [[eagle]]-like in appearance (although it does appear gracile and small-billed even compared to smaller true eagles), an effect enhanced by its longer tarsi, somewhat longer neck and relatively elongated wings. The flight style of the latter species is deeper, slower and more aquiline, with much more frequent hovering, showing a more protruding head and a slightly higher V held in a soar. The smaller [[North Africa]]n and [[Arabia]]n race of long-legged buzzard (''B. r. cirtensis'') is more similar in size and nearly all colour characteristics to steppe buzzard, extending to the heavily streaked juvenile plumage, in some cases such birds can be distinguished only by their proportions and flight patterns which remain unchanged.<ref name= Ferguson-Lees/><ref name= Porter/> Hybridization with the latter race (''B. r. cirtensis'') and nominate common buzzards has been observed in the [[Strait of Gibraltar]], a few such birds have been reported potentially in the southern Mediterranean due to mutually encroaching ranges, which are blurring possibly due to climate change.<ref>Elorriaga, J., & Muñoz, A. R. (2013). ''Hybridisation between the Common Buzzard Buteo buteo buteo and the North African race of Long-legged Buzzard Buteo rufinus cirtensis in the Strait of Gibraltar: prelude or preclude to colonisation?'' Ostrich, 84(1), 41–45.</ref>

Wintering steppe buzzards may live alongside [[mountain buzzard]]s and especially with [[forest buzzard]] while wintering in Africa. The juveniles of steppe and forest buzzards are more or less indistinguishable and only told apart by proportions and flight style, the latter species being smaller, more compact, having a smaller bill, shorter legs and shorter and thinner wings than a steppe buzzard. However, size is not diagnostic unless side by side as the two buzzards overlap in this regard. Most reliable are the species wing proportions and their flight actions. Forest buzzard have more flexible wing beats interspersed with glides, additionally soaring on flatter wings and apparently never engage in hovering. Adult forest buzzards compared to the typical adult steppe buzzard (rufous morph) are also similar, but the forest typically has a whiter underside, sometimes mostly plain white, usually with heavy blotches or drop-shaped marks on abdomen, with barring on thighs, more narrow tear-shaped on chest and more spotted on leading edges of underwing, usually lacking marking on the white U across chest (which is otherwise similar but usually broader than that of ''vulpinus''). In comparison, the mountain buzzard, which is more similar in size to the steppe buzzard and slightly larger than the forest buzzard, is usually duller brown above than a steppe buzzard and is more whitish below with distinctive heavy brown blotches from breasts to the belly, flanks and wing linings while juvenile mountain buzzard is buffy below with smaller and streakier markings. The steppe buzzard when compared to another African species, the [[red-necked buzzard]] (''Buteo auguralis''), which has red tail similar to ''vulpinus'', is distinct in all other plumage aspects despite their similar size. The latter buzzard has a streaky rufous head and is white below with a contrasting bold dark chest in adult plumage and, in juvenile plumage, has heavy, dark blotches on the chest and flanks with pale wing-linings. [[Jackal buzzard|Jackal]] and [[augur buzzard]]s (''Buteo rufofuscus'' & ''augur''), also both rufous on the tail, are larger and bulkier than steppe buzzards and have several distinctive plumage characteristics, most notably both having their own striking, contrasting patterns of black-brown, rufous and cream.<ref name= Ferguson-Lees/><ref name= Forsman/><ref name= Steyn>Steyn, P. (1983). ''Birds of prey of southern Africa: Their identification and life histories''. Croom Helm, Beckenham (UK). 1983.</ref>