Honey Buzzard Facts

Honey Buzzards are one of the most abundant Birds of Prey in Europe. The population is estimated to be around 160,000 pairs, the bulk of which are found in Russia.

In Britain, however, they are much less common, and until recently the number of pairs was believed to only be between 12-34 pairs. Their rarity and the fear they would be persecuted has led to a great deal of secrecy regarding this species, and numbers have probably been underestimated because of poor reporting. In the last two years there has been a greater degree of open-ness and the British population is now assessed to be between 50 -60 pairs.

Honey Buzzards are forest dwellers. They are highly secretive, moving between trees and rarely being seen within the wood. They require large woods or forests and are usually found in areas where there is a high proportion of forest cover. They are not easy to see, but can be found through patient watching at certain raptor viewpoints - sites on Forestry Commission land are at Halden Forest, Devon and Wykeham, North Yorkshire.

Honey Buzzards are unlike other large raptors in that they specialise in eating insects, with wasp and bee larvae making up a large part of their diet. They have adaptations that protect them from stings and help them deal with their prey: their legs and feet are heavily scaled and the feathers around the bill are dense and scale like. The bill is long and curved with an extended point suitable for holding insects, and their nostrils are reduced to long slits that are less likely to become blocked with soil or wax as they dig for wasp nests. They are not entirely dependent on insects; frogs, young birds and even some fruit are taken as alternative prey.

Honey Buzzards migrate from their breeding grounds in Europe and Asia to sub-saharan Africa and southern Asia where they find adequate food supplies during the winter months. Large, and occasionally, spectacular numbers can be seen during their migration where their routes converge at narrow sea crossings such as at the Straights of Gibraltar, the Straits of Messina, the Bosphorus and at Falsterbo in southern Sweden. Little is known of the migration of the small British population with only a few birds having been ringed. The only Honey Buzzard from the Highlands of Scotland to have been recovered overseas was found in the Guinea Republic. The objective of this project is to understand more about the migration routes taken by Honey Buzzards using British forests.

Honey Buzzards nest in woods, and prefer deciduous trees. They build nests made of twigs and lined with fresh leaves. The average number of eggs laid is two (range one-three), and incubation is shared by both parents. Both adults forage and feed the chicks, and after fledging, the young continue to be fed by the adults for about a month, sometimes less.