This sub-specie of common buzzard is endemic to Madeira Archipelago and is locally called Manta. It's the biggest bird of prey that occurs in Madeira. It has round wings and is often seen flying in large circles by the movement of the ascending hot air currents.

You can find this buzzard in indigenous and exotic forest areas, areas with few or creeping vegetation, agricultural and sub-urban areas. It nests in both Madeira and Porto Santo Islands with an ample distribution. The total population has about 2500 individuals, most of them resident in Madeira Island.

In the last two decades the buzzard presented a great population growth. In Desertas Islands it used to nest until 1996, time when the existing few couples disappeared because of the program of recovering the terrestrial habitats from Deserta Grande, which concerned the elimination of the herbivorous species inhabiting there.