Kanja (Buteo buteo) is a medium-sized raptor of stocky build with a short, strong neck. From the tip of the short beak to the end of the medium-length tail it measures 46 to 58 cm. The wingspan of its broad wings, on which it so deftly soars, ranges from 110 to 132 cm. The coloration of its plumage varies greatly; we can see very light and very dark individuals, but most are somewhere in between. Feathers on the upper side of the body are dark brown with a pale edge. The belly is also dark brown, and on the chest the buzzard always has a light band. The sharp, hooked beak is black, only its base is dark yellow. The legs are also yellow, and the sharp talons are black. In flight we notice the underside of its fan-shaped, dirty white tail, which is densely cross-banded, with a broad black band at the edge of the tail. A larger part of the wings is dirty white with darker spots. At the trailing edge of the wings runs a broad dark band, which also tints the outer flight feathers. The front part of the wings, from the body to the wrist, is brown with a longitudinal pale band. The buzzard often reveals its presence with its call, a whistle reminiscent of a cat's meow, "piiijaj".
Kanja is our most common raptor and almost no day passes without meeting it. Here it nests from March to May. It builds a nest high in a tree from twigs and lines it with dry plant material to be more comfortable and warm. It spends the winter here; birds from the north and east of Europe join it, where winters are colder. Only in exceptionally severe cold does it retreat to lower areas or somewhat more to the south. It is a characteristic inhabitant of cultural landscapes, where meadows, fields and orchards intertwine with shrub hedges, groves and settlements. In the forest the buzzard nests, in open areas it hunts. When conditions are favorable and there is no risk of prey being watched from some telegraph pole, treetop, or fence, we see it rising slowly and persistently in circles in the rising air. The buzzard, which in parts of the country is also called the mišar, has excellent vision that allows it from a great height to spot a mole, vole or mouse – its favorite food. How skilled it is at hunting mice and other rodents was known to Fran Erjavec and in his book Domestic and Foreign Animals in Illustrations he wrote: "If a farmer hired it for this job and paid, it could not more conscientiously perform this service." It also hunts hares, amphibians, reptiles, less often insects and earthworms.
With legal protection and the cessation of persecution, the buzzard population in Slovenia has recovered greatly and is not endangered.
