The British uplands support a rich assemblage of a number of predatory and scavenging birds, including golden eagle, merlin, red kite, hen harrier, raven and buzzard, with nationally and internationally important populations of some of these species. A feature all these species have in common is the requirement for large foraging ranges by individuals which means that large tracts of suitable habitat are necessary to support viable populations. Current changes in upland land use such as afforestation and changing agricultural practices give cause for concern. The conservation of these species and others like them requires a greater understanding of how these birds interact with the landscape and how their distribution and breeding performance reflects their habitat. Ecologists are becoming increasingly aware of the potential of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) for exploring these relationships between animal species and their habitat. In this thesis, the buzzard was chosen as a model species to explore ways of predicting bird distributions and breeding performance from readily available data using GIS. This study was carried out in mid-Argyll, Scotland. The distribution and breeding performance of buzzards was determined for a number of study areas, chosen to represent the full spectrum of habitats to be encountered in mid-Argyll, during 1989 and 1990. Parameters of breeding performance used were laying date, clutch size, initial brood size and fledging success. Brood quality was also assessed, based on nestling growth. The breeding performance of buzzards in mid-Argyll was included in a comparison of published data from studies elsewhere in Britain. Laying dates were found to be consistent throughout the country while clutch size, initial brood size and fledging success were seen to differ between studies. No patterns which might relate to latitudinal or climatic trends were apparent and differences were considered to be due to overall habitat differences bet