(Part of the) common name of species of the genus Buteo ('true buzzards') of the subfamily Accipitrinae or 'true hawks', and of Pernis spp. or 'honey-buzzards' of the subfamily Perninae (both of the family Accipitridae or Hawks, order Falconiformes). In America the buzzards are commonly named 'hawks', and 'buzzard' is a popular misnomer for members of the family Cathartidae (New World vultures). True buzzards have an almost cosmopolitan distribution (except Australasia and Malaysia) and are large hawks (wing-spread 0.9-1.6 m) with soaring flight, inhabiting woodlands and open country (including swamps and mountains). They are broad-winged and short-tailed, feeding on mammals and reptiles (sometimes birds) which they catch on the ground. Females are in general only slightly bigger than males. Some species are migratory (mostly ones breeding in the far north like the Rough-legged Buzzard Buteo lagopus), but most are not. Honey-buzzards are buzzard-like birds living only in the Old World and which are generally insectivorous. The Honey-buzzard Pernis apivorus feeds mainly on the grubs and honey in bees' and wasps' nests and is migratory, moving south from Europe and Asia.

Alternative forms for buzzards : Buteo, buzzard, honey-buzzards, Pernis.