Increasing regular visitor that has bred.

Buzzards were extinguished from most parts of southern England during the nineteenth century, mainly by gamekeepers who considered them as vermin. They gradually began to increase in numbers after the First World War, but were badly affected by the loss of Rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus), their main prey, as a result of myxmatosis in the 1950’s and 1960’s. From their former stronghold in northern and western Britain, a steady but slow expansion east has occurred.

Having previously bred in Hertfordshire prior to 1865, they bred again for the first time in 1996, and are now becoming increasingly common.

The earliest record for Stevenage comes from a letter dated 29 October 1877 from Mr G. Rooper F.Z.S. to the President of the Watford Field Club in which he states that once when hunting he had seen a pair of Buzzards in a wood near Stevenage.

Foster in Hine (1934) claimed that Buzzards had been seen at Box Wood, one had been shot between Stevenage and Walkern on 18 December 1931. They were not recorded again from Stevenage until 21 May 1968, when one was seen circling over the Old Town and being mobbed by Great Black-backed Gulls. There were two other records from the 1960s, two birds seen circling over Astonbury House on 18 September 1969 and one seen at the Town Centre in December 1969. During the 1970s single birds were seen at Fairlands Valley (30 June 1972), from Southgate House (7 August 1975), Aston (4 September 1976) and soaring over Shephall (13 September 1979). In the 1980’s single birds were seen at Box Wood (19 September and 3 October 1981), Watery Grove (3 June 1984), and Chesfield Park (27 March 1989).

During the 1990’s, when the re-colonisation of Hertfordshire took place, single birds were seen on 1 April 1992, 28 December 1995, 4 May 1996 (Norton Green), and 5 September 1999 (Pin Green Industrial Area). Two were also seen soaring north over the Town on 16 January 1994.  

They are now regularly seen, particularly on the eastern and western edges of the Town, with records from every year since 2000, and in recent years, from every month of the year. The most seen together are the seven drifting over Chells Manor on 13 October 2007.  

The 2012 Breeding Atlas confirmed breeding from the tetrad covering Norton Green.

The 2012 Winter Atlas recorded their presence from 10 of the tetrads covering Stevenage. 

A Buzzard that was ringed as a second, year male at Stoke Ferry, Norfolk on 10 July 2010 was found dead on 4 July 2016 on the A1 Stevenage having been hit by a car.