Long-legged Buzzard (Buteo rufinus) [XC368020]
by Albert Lastukhin from Priyutnoye, Priyutnenskiy rayon, Respublika Kalmykiya, Russian Federation (flight call)
Long-legged Buzzard (Buteo rufinus) [XC145289]
by Albert Lastukhin from Zhabagly, South Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan (call)
Subspecies
Buteo buteo (Sibley and Monroe 1990, 1993) was split into Eurasian Buzzard (Buteo buteo) and Cape Verde Buzzard (Buteo bannermani) by Hazevoet (1995). Clouet and Wink (2000) found that bannermani appears to share a common ancestry with an unnamed form of buzzard from Socotra commonly known as 'socotrae'. Clouet and Wink (2000) and Hazevoet (1995) also noted that bannermani and socotrae have a close genetic affinity with Long-legged Buzzard (Buteo rufinus). Studies to date present preliminary findings and it is not possible at this time to form a definitive conclusion so at present bannermani and socotrae are treated as conspecific with Long-legged Buzzard (Buteo rufinus) but possibly distinct at the subspecific level.
BirdLife International Species Factsheet