British Bird of Prey Day: The Honey Buzzard
Updated: Aug 16
The 15th August is British Bird of Prey Day. To mark this day, and the 350th anniversary of the publication of Francis Willughby’s Ornithologia, this post will focus on part of the description of the Honey Buzzard in Ornithologia. Willughby was the first person in the world to identify the Honey Buzzard as a distinct species.
Willughby commented that, in size, it was equal to or exceeded the Common Buzzard and it was also very like it in the shape of its body, just somewhat longer. The bird he measured weighed 31 ounces (878.8g). Its length was 23 inches (58.4cm) from bill point to tail end and 19 inches (48.2cm) to the points of its talons. The wingspan was 52 inches (132cm). As common with others of the raptor-kind, the female was larger than the male.
Its bill from the tip to the gape was 1½ inches long (3.8cm), black and very hooked. The base of the upper mandible was covered with a thick, rugged, black skin beyond the nostrils. The nostrils were not round, but long and bending. The mouth gaped very wide and was yellow inside. The angle of the lower mandible was semi-circular, as in other hawks. He described the irises of the eyes as being a lovely bright yellow or saffron colour.
The head was ash coloured and the crown was flat, broad and narrow toward the beak. The bottoms of the plumage on the head and back were white, which Willughby said was worth noting because it was common amongst many of the hawks. The back was a ferruginous or mouse-dun colour. Under the chin and under the tail were white. The breast and belly were also white with black spots that were drawn downward.
The number of flight feathers in each wing were 24. The tips of the primary flight feathers, as well as those of the secondaries and tertiaries were white. When closed, the wings did not reach to the end of the tail. The tail consisted of 12 feathers, was nearly a foot long (30.4cm) and was variegated with transverse bars. The very tips of the tail feathers were white, below that was a blackish bar and under that was a broad dun-ash coloured bed which was about 3 inches broad (7.6cm). A similar colouring and pattern was on the wings.
The legs were feathered somewhat below the “knees” (ankles) and they were short, strong and yellow, as were the feet. The talons were long, strong, sharp and black. Willughby commented that the bird ran very swiftly, like a chicken.
It built its nest of small twigs, laying upon them wool and the eggs upon that. The eggs were cinereous and marked with darker spots. Willughby noted that they had observed a Honey Buzzard that had used an old Red Kite’s nest to breed in. There were two young ones in the nest. They were covered with a white down and black spotted. Their feet were of a pale yellow and their bill was white between the nostrils and the head. The young were fed with the grubs of wasps and, in the nest, Willughby observed the combs of wasps’ nests. The adults also ate green caterpillars, larvae, insects, lizards, frogs etc.
Willughby and Ray commented that, despite this bird being frequently observed, it had not yet been described by any naturalist. It had been considered to be the same species as the Common Buzzard. However, Willughby specifically noted differences that distinguished the Honey Buzzard, namely: its tail was longer; the head was grey; the irises were yellow; its feet were thicker and shorter; and it had broad dun beds on the wings and tail. To this list should also have been added the nostrils, which are described as oblong in the Honey Buzzard and are specifically shaped to prevent soil and wasps from entering its respiratory tract through its nostrils when it accessed wasps’ nests.
Willughby called this bird the Honey Buzzard. John Ray, in his Synopsis Avium & Piscium, then gave it the Latin name of Buteo apivorus sive vespivorus. Carl Linnaeus gave it the official binomial name of Falco apivorus. In 1816, Georges Cuvier introduced the genus Pernis and it was renamed as Pernis apivorus, which is its modern name.
Genetic testing has shown that the Honey Buzzard is definitely not a true Buzzard. It has been placed on a much older evolutionary branch, which means that it is in fact much more closely related to various primitive species of Kite and even some Old World Vultures. Its passing similarity to a Buzzard is thought to have emerged as a partial protection against predation from the Goshawk, as the Buzzard has a much stronger beak and talons than the Honey Buzzard.
It also does not eat honey. The larvae of wasps and hornets are its primary food and it is the only known predator of the invasive Asian hornet. The Honey Buzzard tracks the flight of adult wasps to their nest and then digs out the nest on the ground using its strong legs and claws. The distinctive scaly facial feathers on the Honey Buzzard protect them from wasp attacks and it is thought that they have a chemical deterrent on their feathers to protect them as well.
It is now officially commonly known in English as the European Honey Buzzard, to distinguish it from the Oriental Honey Buzzard. However, even this European part of its name is wrong as the species is now known to breed across Europe and Asia and spends the winter in Africa. In light of all of these inaccuracies in its name, British ornithologist Tim Birkhead made the suggestion that it might be time to rename the common name as “Willughby’s Buzzard”, or maybe even “Willughby’s Kite”.
Further Reading:
John Ray, Francis Willughby’s Ornithologia, 1678, p.72. T3.
Tim Birkhead, The Wonderful Mr Willughby, 2018.
Author - Debbie Jordan, Middleton Hall Volunteer.
Comments