Buzzard is a word that means different things depending on where you are. In America, people use buzzard as a casual name for vultures, those large birds with bald heads that soar high on thermal air currents, searching for dead animals to eat. When you see dark shapes circling overhead in a wide, lazy spiral, someone might say, “Look at those buzzards,” even though they're technically vultures.

In Europe and other parts of the world, however, buzzard refers to a completely different type of bird: medium-sized hawks that hunt live prey like rabbits and rodents. These birds are skilled hunters with sharp talons and keen eyesight.

The word also appears in the old-fashioned insult “old buzzard,” meaning a grumpy, unpleasant person, probably because vultures have a reputation for being disagreeable-looking birds. But real vultures and buzzards, despite not being the prettiest creatures, play important roles in nature: vultures clean up carrion, while true buzzards help control rodent populations.