• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Reference and further resources

Taxonomic source(s)
AERC TAC. 2003. AERC TAC Checklist of bird taxa occurring in Western Palearctic region, 15th Draft. Available at: http://www.aerc.eu/DOCS/Bird_taxa_of_the_WP15.xls.
Cramp, S. and Simmons, K.E.L. (eds). 1977-1994. Handbook of the birds of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The birds of the western Palearctic. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2021	Least Concern
2016	Least Concern
2013	Least Concern
2012	Least Concern
2009	Least Concern
2008	Least Concern
2004	Least Concern
2000	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

Migratory status	full migrant	Forest dependency	low
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	41,600,000 km2
Extent of Occurrence (non-breeding)	80,500,000 km2
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	350000-800000 mature individuals	poor	suspected	2021
Population trend	stable	-	suspected	-
Generation length	7.54 years	-	-	-

Population justification: The European population is estimated at 28,800-58,200 pairs, which equates to 57,600-117,000 mature individuals (BirdLife International in prep.). Europe forms approximately 15% of the global range, so a very preliminary estimate of the global population size is 384,000-780,000 mature individuals, although further validation of this estimate is needed. The Partners in Flight Science Committee (2020a) estimate the global population to be 590,000 (equivalent to 395,000 mature individuals), based on a population of 300,000 in the USA and Canada. The population is therefore placed in the band 350,000-800,000 mature individuals.

Trend justification: This species has had stable population trends since 1970 in North America (Partners in Flight 2020b). In Europe the population size is also estimated to be stable (BirdLife International in prep.). The population in some areas fluctuates according to the abundance of small mammals (Bechard et al. 2020).

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Afghanistan	extant	vagrant			yes
Albania	extant	native			yes
Armenia	extant	native			yes
Austria	extant	native			yes
Azerbaijan	extant	native			yes
Belarus	extant	native			yes
Belgium	extant	native			yes
Bermuda (to UK)	extant	vagrant
Bhutan	extant	vagrant			yes
Bosnia and Herzegovina	extant	native			yes
Bulgaria	extant	native			yes	yes
Canada	extant	native		yes	yes	yes
China (mainland)	extant	native			yes
Croatia	extant	native			yes
Cyprus	extant	vagrant
Czechia	extant	native			yes
Denmark	extant	native			yes	yes
Estonia	extant	native			yes
Faroe Islands (to Denmark)	extant	vagrant
Finland	extant	native		yes		yes
France	extant	native			yes
Georgia	extant	native			yes	yes
Germany	extant	native			yes
Greece	extant	native			yes	yes
Hungary	extant	native			yes
Iceland	extant	vagrant
Iran, Islamic Republic of	extant	native			yes
Ireland	extant	vagrant
Israel	extant	vagrant			yes
Italy	extant	native			yes
Japan	extant	native			yes
Jordan	extant	vagrant
Kazakhstan	extant	native			yes	yes
Kyrgyzstan	extant	native			yes
Latvia	extant	native			yes
Lebanon	extant	vagrant			yes
Libya	extant	vagrant			yes
Liechtenstein	extant	vagrant			yes
Lithuania	extant	native			yes
Luxembourg	extant	native			yes
Malta	extant	vagrant
Mexico	extant	native			yes
Moldova	extant	native			yes
Mongolia	extant	native			yes
Montenegro	extant	native			yes
Netherlands	extant	native			yes
North Korea	extant	native			yes
North Macedonia	extant	native			yes
Norway	extant	native	yes	yes	yes	yes
Poland	extant	native			yes
Romania	extant	native			yes	yes
Russia	extant	native		yes	yes	yes
Russia (Asian)	extant	native		yes	yes	yes
Russia (Central Asian)	extant	native		yes	yes	yes
Russia (European)	extant	native		yes	yes	yes
Serbia	extant	native			yes
Slovakia	extant	native			yes
Slovenia	extant	native			yes
South Korea	extant	native			yes
Spain	extant	vagrant			yes
St Pierre and Miquelon (to France)	extant	native		yes
Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands (to Norway)	extant	vagrant		yes
Sweden	extant	native		yes	yes	yes
Switzerland	extant	native			yes
Syria	extant	vagrant			yes
Taiwan, China	extant	native			yes
Tajikistan	extant	native			yes
Tunisia	extant	vagrant			yes
Türkiye	extant	native			yes
Ukraine	extant	native			yes	yes
United Kingdom	extant	native			yes
USA	extant	native		yes	yes
Uzbekistan	extant	native			yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Finland	Kevo
Finland	Lemmenjoki-Hammastunturi-Pulju
Finland	Northern Kaldoaivi wilderness
Finland	Saariselkä and Koilliskaira
Norway	Dovrefjell
Norway	Hardangervidda
Norway	Øvre Anárjohka
Norway	Øvre Pasvik
Norway	Reisa
Norway	Varanger Peninsula
Russia (Asian)	Babushkina and Kekurnyy Gulfs
Russia (Asian)	Kolyma delta
Russia (Central Asian)	Lower Yuribey
Russia (Central Asian)	Upper and Middle Yuribey
Russia (Central Asian)	Valley of the Yorkutayakha river
Russia (European)	Lapland Biosphere Reserve
Sweden	Lake Ånn – Storlien
Sweden	Lake Tjålme – Valley of Lais
Sweden	Middagsfjället – Dörrshöjden
Sweden	Vindel Mountains (including Lake Tärna)

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable Land	suitable	non-breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Pastureland	suitable	non-breeding
Forest	Boreal	suitable	breeding
Grassland	Temperate	suitable	non-breeding
Grassland	Tundra	suitable	breeding
Rocky areas (eg. inland cliffs, mountain peaks)		major	breeding
Shrubland	Boreal	suitable	breeding
Shrubland	Temperate	suitable	non-breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Bogs, Marshes, Swamps, Fens, Peatlands	suitable	resident
Altitude	0 - 1200 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Livestock farming & ranching - Agro-industry grazing, ranching or farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Biological resource use	Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - Persecution/control	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Species mortality
Biological resource use	Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - Unintentional effects (species is not the target)	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Species mortality
Climate change & severe weather	Habitat shifting & alteration	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Future		Whole (>90%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Indirect ecosystem effects, Ecosystem degradation, Reduced reproductive success
Climate change & severe weather	Storms & flooding	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Future		Unknown		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success
Pollution	Agricultural & forestry effluents - Herbicides and pesticides	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Past, Likely to Return		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Past Impact
		Stresses Species mortality
Transportation & service corridors	Roads & railroads	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Species mortality
Transportation & service corridors	Utility & service lines	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Species mortality

Purpose	Scale
Pets/display animals, horticulture	international

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Rough-legged Buzzard Buteo lagopus. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/rough-legged-buzzard-buteo-lagopus on 23/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 23/12/2024.