Lanky raptor with a tiny head and long wings with prominent 'fingers'. Plumage highly variable, but note tail pattern: pale overall with dark tip, two wide-spaced narrow dark bars on basal half. Rangier and more lightly built than stocky Common Buzzard, with longer neck, smaller head, looser and floppier wingbeats. Adult has yellow eyes (brown on Common Buzzard). Favors forest with clearings and small wetlands, but migrants may occur in any habitat.