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From: dmark@sunybcs.uucp (David M. Mark)
Newsgroups: rec.birds,sci.bio
Subject: Re: buzzards vs. vultures
Message-ID: <3760@sunybcs.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 23-Jun-87 14:59:49 EDT
Article-I.D.: sunybcs.3760
Posted: Tue Jun 23 14:59:49 1987
Date-Received: Thu, 25-Jun-87 05:39:10 EDT
References: <773@gryphon.CTS.COM>
Sender: nobody@sunybcs.UUCP
Reply-To: dmark@marvin.UUCP (David M. Mark)
Followup-To: Miriam Nadel's note
Organization: SUNY/Buffalo Computer Science
Lines: 66
Keywords: is there a difference
Xref: mnetor rec.birds:170 sci.bio:468

In article <773@gryphon.CTS.COM> mhnadel@gryphon.CTS.COM (Miriam Nadel) writes:
>One of the less enlightened people I work with believes that buzzards and
>vultures are completely distinct types of birds.  Please can someone settle
>an argument and provide us with lots of nice latin names since the dictionary
>doesn't?
>
>Miriam Nadel
>

In a way, your associate was right, but almost certainly for the wrong
reasons.

The word "Buzzard" is not used in the "official" name of any North American
bird.  In colloquial American English, it refers only to the vultures,
Turkey Vulture and Black Vulture.  However, in a way, both terms are
somewhat misused.

In English English, the day-flying birds of prey ("raptors") have 
common names which line up pretty well with the scientific genus names:

"Hawk"       is used only for the short-winged, bird-eating raptors
             of genus Accipiter.  (US birds of this genus are Goshawk,
             Sharp-shinned Hawk, and Cooper's Hawk.)
"Buzzard"    is used for brad-winged, soaring, short-tailed raptors,
             mostly of genus Buteo. (US members of Buteo include
             Red-tailed, Rough-legged, Broad-winged, and Red-shouldered
             "Hawks".)
"Vulture"    is used for large, carrion-eating birds, of genus Gyps
             and others. (No North American birds of this group.)

All of these birds are members of family Accipitridae.

When the US was settled, English names were appied to North American
birds rather hap-hazardly by non-biologists.  They ended up using the
word "Hawk" for just about all the diurnal birds of prey, except for the
really big ones (Eagles).

We have in the Americans a unique family of carrion-eating birds, which
inludes the Condors, plus the things we here call "Vultures".  It turns
out that their similarity to the Old-world vultures is due almost
entirely to convergent evolution.  Recent work on DNA-DNA hybridization
by biologists Sibley and Alquist has shown that the closest relatives
of these birds are not the raptors but the storks  (!).  (See an article
by S & A in Scientific American in 1986 or 1985.)

So, if the European names were used properly, our Buteos should be called
"Red-tailed Buzzard", "Broad-winged Buzzard", etc.  And, if one were
to try to be REALLY correct, the Turkey "vulture" and Black "vulture"
would have to be renamed.  There has been a tendency over the last decade
or so to try to get agreement on names throught the English-language
world.  However, because "buzzard" as a synonym for "vulture" for the
North American carrion-eating birds is so entrenched in American English,
"Buzzard" would never be acceptable for our Buteos.

So, in colloquial American English, "buzzard" = "vulture".  However,
in formal ornithological English names, "Buzzard" applies to genus
Buteo in England, and "vulture" appies to rather un-related but
superficially similar carrion-eating birds in the old and new worlds.

I hope this clrifies the situation!!!!

David Mark, SUNY-Buffalo Geography

dmark@sunybcs
dmark@buffalo
geodmm@ubvms.BITNETm