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In Britain, the word buzzard refers chiefly to several birds of prey of the hawk genus Buteo. In North America, a buzzard is any of various New World vultures, especially the turkey vulture. In Australia, a large hawk of the genus Hamirostra is called a black-breasted buzzard. Buteos, also called buzzard hawks, can usually be distinguished when soaring by their broad wings and expansive rounded tail. The plumage of most species is dark brown above and white or mottled brown below; the tail and underside of the wings are usually barred. Buteos customarily prey on insects, small mammals, and occasionally birds. They nest in trees or on cliffs. Species range over much of the New World, Eurasia, and Africa. The red-tailed hawk, the most common North American buteo, is about 2 ft (60 cm) long.

Examples of buzzard in a Sentence

the real estate buzzards were really putting pressure on the one homeowner who was still refusing to sell that crotchety old man can be a real buzzard when he's in a bad mood—which is usually the case

Recent Examples on the Web Fukuyama’s buzzard triumphalism has been echoed everywhere. — Michael Brendan Dougherty, National Review, 16 Mar. 2022 From a bat, buzzard and barn owl, to a scorpion, seahorse and squirrel monkey, Inside In is a collection of more than 50 arthropods, mollusks, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. — Megan Gambino, Smithsonian Magazine, 10 Dec. 2021 Health, sequencing, buzzard’s luck, bad decisions and a snowball type of effect can bury a team already gasping for air. — Gabe Lacques, USA TODAY, 17 June 2021 No-hitters at times can reflect a team’s poor fortunes – a series of line drives hit directly at fielders, or a defender making a dazzling play to rob a batter and reinforce the buzzard’s luck surrounding the squad. — Gabe Lacques, USA TODAY, 22 May 2021 Still, this is without question a great hire for UCF, which was searching for a coach late in the game after Josh Heupel fell for Tennessee like a buzzard for a landfill. — Joseph Goodman | Jgoodman@al.com, al, 15 Feb. 2021 Weekend 1 of the rest of our vile virus lives perched like a buzzard over our collective behavior this weekend. — Paul Daugherty, Cincinnati.com, 18 May 2020 As military governor of the city, so the legend goes, Funston presided over a clean-up so thorough that buzzards left town, since there was nothing left to scavenge. — Paula Allen, ExpressNews.com, 4 Apr. 2020 That could be some sort of vision, a buzzard eating a dead bobcat. — al, 21 Mar. 2020 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'buzzard.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.