Buzzard pair

[mrs12662008]

Hello,

I saw a pair of Buzzards today, obviously following each other, soaring on the same spiralling flightpath.
On a couple of occasions they came together close enough to make contact, and appeared to “clash”, then continued soaring as before.
So I guess this is just friendly behaviour between mates ? Or siblings ?

Also, are there any obvious feather markings to identify male & female ?

Exhibit A – the two birds in question:



Thank,
David

[Picidae]

No plumage distinctions. Structure slight difference. If you noticed a difference in size, the smaller one could point to a male - very difficult to assess otherwise. Males also have a slightly larger head and narrower wings as well as a marginally shorter tail. Again, you really need to see both together very well to compare - it's not really possible from two separate photos.

Plumage of course varies with age - photos need to be sharper to accurately age these really - however, the first pic looks to be an adult (clearer image of breast pattern would be helpful and iris colour) and the second at least a second autumn bird moulting into first adult plumage maybe older.