British Birds of Prey WildID guide

From buzzards to harriers and falcons to eagles: WildID Birds of prey guide features all 15 day-flying raptor species that breed in the UK.

• Identification guide to 15 day-flying raptors that breed in Britain and Ireland
• Tell apart lookalikes with colour images by Mike Langman
• Designed to be used outside: splash-proof, lightweight and folding

Birds of prey can be highly variable, and your view of the bird may be fleeting. But by looking at pictures side-by-side, you can generally narrow down the choice to two or three species. To help confirm raptor identification, we have included particular features to look out for. For each bird, these include size, habitat, range, flight pattern and possible confusion species.

Some species have marked differences between males and females in size and colour. In general, most females are much larger. Plumage can vary between individuals of the same species, especially common buzzards. You may also see a juvenile or an adult with worn or moulted feathers.

45 species of diurnal raptors breed in continental Europe, with 308 species worldwide. So the British breeding fauna is small. Nevertheless, the UK list contains representatives from three of the world’s five bird of prey families.

Most of these are resident all year round, while some are summer visitors. The population of some species is regularly boosted by migrants from outside the UK. Other species sometimes seen may be passage migrants, vagrants, or escaped falconers’ birds.

Although not closely related, owls are also birds of prey, but their generally nocturnal or twilight hunting helps distinguish them from the diurnal species. However, there are exceptions; short-eared and little owls hunt in daylight. Urban peregrine falcons can use the glow of street lights to hunt in cities at night. Hobbies can catch prey at dusk.