Scientific Name: Butastur indicus
Malay Name: Helang-Rintik Utara
Chinese Name: 灰脸鵟鹰
Range: Found from eastern Siberia, north-eastern China, Japan to Korea and winters to Southeast Asia
Taxonomy: Monotypic.
Size: 41-49 cm
Identification: Adult has mostly plain greyish-brown upperparts and upperbreast, whitish throat with distinctive black mesial stripes, greyish-brown rest of underparts with whitish barrings, pale underwing with dark wing-tips and three dark tail-bands. Juvenile has browner upperparts, broad whitish supercilium and dull whitish underparts with bold dark streaks.
Similar looking species: Shikra
Habitat: Open country, lightly wooded areas and reclaimed land
Behaviour/Ecology:
Local Status: Uncommon migrant
Conservation Status: Least Concern (BirdLife International 2021)
Location: Changi reclaimed land, Tanah Merah grassland, Tuas, Pulau Ubin, Henderson Wave, Kent Ridge Park and Sisters’ Islands.
- RAP201: How to Identify Uncommon Raptors (ID Articles)
- Bird List Revision for May 2019 (Revisions)
- RAP301: What is that raptor? (ID Articles)
- Singapore Birds Project Raptor Watch at Henderson Waves (Blog)
Conservation Status: IUCN Red List Page
Sound Recordings: xeno-canto Link
Wikipedia Entry: Wikipedia Link
eBird Species page: eBird (Gray-faced Buzzard)
References:
BirdLife International. (2021). Butastur indicus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-3.RLTS.T22695726A202433645.en. Accessed on 1 January 2023
Jeyarajasingam, A., & Pearson, A. (2012). A Field Guide to the Birds of Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore. Oxford University Press.
Lim, K. S. (2009). The Avifauna of Singapore. Nature Society (Singapore).
Robson, C. (2014). Field guide to the birds of South-East Asia (Second Edition). Bloomsbury Publishing, London.
RECOMMENDED CITATION
Singapore Birds Project. (n.d.). Grey-faced Buzzard. Retrieved on June 1, 2023 from https://singaporebirds.com/species/grey-faced-buzzard.