Visitor from the steppes causes pigeon panic

A shadow passed across the thatched roof of the house over the road this evening. I could tell it was a large bird, so I craned my neck to see through the kitchen window (quite a feat with the sink in front of it) and there it was - a magnificent steppe buzzard soaring overhead. I rushed outside to get a better look but it was gone before I got down the stairs, leaving only a scattered flock of forty or so pigeons swooping and banking as they do when in flight. As the flock gathered again, they headed straight for the sheltering branches of the gum tree rather than the exposed rooftop next door, where they had gathered to wait for me to throw out a bowl of grain for their dinner.

I don't recall ever seeing a steppe buzzard chasing a pigeon - that is the favoured food of the black sparrowhawk - and so I consulted my father, an extremely knowledgeable birder, and he told me that steppe buzzards eat locusts here in Cape Town. Back in the steppes of Russia they apparently eat mice or lizards, so I have no idea why they would fly all the way here for the odd locust, but all I can say is, they must have unbelievably good eyesight.

So he wasn't a danger to the pigeons, but they possibly are not able to identify different species of raptor and merely take evasive action due to the size of the bird hovering in their vicinity. Always good to err on the side of caution!