Differential characteristics of bones in the common buzzard (Buteo buteo) and the western marsh harrier (Circus aeruginosus)

Abstract

Achieving a high degree of accuracy in identifying the bones of different bird species requires a solid knowledge of avian osteology and above all intensive and sustained study. Confusions may be due to the large number of species that belong to this class of vertebrates. Identifying species based on various skeletal characters is not only useful to archaeologists and taxonomists. Practically, legal medicine is also faced with problems that require such identification skills, especially in the case of settling disputes following acts of poaching. Different species of birds have different harvesting periods and in some cases poachers try to mislead the authorities entitled to examine the biological samples. The study material was represented by two corpses each of the species common buzzard (Buteo buteo) and western marsh harrier (Circus aeruginosus) from specimens collected between August 2023 and January 2024 from the perimeter of the Henry Coandă International Airport – Bucharest. The bones of the appendicular skeleton and the sternum have been described in detail, because these are the bones that most clearly and consistently show the species characters. The rest of the bones show differences, but are difficult for non-specialists to assess. It was concluded that between the two species the most important morphological contrasts appear in the case of the bones of the pelvic limb, this can be explained by the different method of capturing their prey.