Grey-faced Buzzard

The grey-faced buzzard is a medium-sized Asian raptor about 46–51 cm long, with a wingspan near 101–110 cm. Adults have a grey head and face, white throat marked by dark moustachial and central stripes, warm brown upperparts and barred pale underparts. Yellow eyes, cere and legs stand out at close range. Juveniles are browner and mottled above, vertically streaked below and show a broad white eyebrow rather than the adult's cleaner grey facial pattern (Grey-faced Buzzard Summit 2023; Oiseaux.net).

It breeds from eastern Russia and northeastern China through Korea and Japan, migrating in conspicuous flocks to winter in Southeast Asia, including Vietnam. Birds hunt from trees or utility poles beside rice fields, cropland and clearings, dropping onto frogs, insects, crustaceans, reptiles, small mammals and occasional birds. Breeding pairs build a small, leaf-lined stick nest in a tree within forest patches. The female lays three or four spotted white eggs and performs most incubation, while the male supplies food (Sakai 2011; Wikipedia, general species account).