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Black-breasted Buzzard

(Hamirostra melanosternon)

Size: 50-60 cm; wing span 1.4-1.55 m

Habitat
(for details refer to a field guide)

Black-breasted Buzzards are found mainly in the tropical north of Australia and in the semi-arid interior to the north of about Lake Eyre with a boundary north-westward towards Uluru, continuing to somewhere south of Broome, WA, and north-eastward towards St. George in southern QLD. Other than that there are only a few patches where they have been found in south-east Australia and along the WA west coast from about Geraldton to Exmouth and a few hundred km inland from that coastal stretch.

Sightings

A Black-breasted Buzzard was first spotted by us in the wetlands of Capricorn Resort, Yeppoon, in July 2009. Special access to the wetlands kindly granted by the owners of Capricorn Resort is most gratefully acknowledged. No photo available yet.

These pages are largely based on our own observations. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.