Honey Buzzard

A symbol of man’s contempt for wildlife?

Every issue over the next year, the team behind Bird Photographer of the Year (BPOTY) will look at conservation issues surrounding different species from the UK and beyond, using beautiful images to inspire. This month it is the Honey Buzzard – a symbol of man’s contempt for wildlife and an emblem of those who risk their lives to save them

Perhaps more than any other species, the Honey Buzzard stands as an icon for the contempt that Man has for wildlife and the environment. A bird of woodlands, with a specialised diet of bee and wasp larvae, the Honey Buzzard is vulnerable to our impact on the environment both during winter months spent in Africa, and also across Europe and parts of Asia in summer. But it is on migration when the direct impact of human nature at its most repulsive is felt: these magnificent birds are slaughtered in large numbers, shot by men – and it is mostly men – who, put simply, enjoy killing things. They don’t merit the terms ‘hunters’ or ‘sportsmen’ because their pointless actions have no purpose and require no skill.

This wilful and utterly senseless slaughter is enough to make any rational person give up on the human race, were it not for the fact that there are also people out there willing to put their lives at risk, quite literally in some instances, in an attempt to prevent it from happening. Among their numbers are members of the German NGO Committee Against Bird Slaughter (or Komitee gegen den Vogelmord e.V. in German) whose volunteers bravely target the worst offending countries – particularly Malta, Cyprus, Italy and France – in spring and autumn. Symbolic though it may be, the Honey Buzzard is, of course, just one of many bird species that run the gauntlet of the guns. And being shot is only one of the varied ways in which the migrants are persecuted and killed.

The Honey Buzzard may be superficially similar to Buteo buzzards, but that’s where the similarity ends. As its name suggests, it has a highly specialised diet, which comprises mainly the larvae and pupae of colonial-nesting bees and wasps. It is well-adapted to this challenging diet, having long and powerful claws used to tear open nests. Armed with the ability to inflict painful stings, the bees and wasps don’t give up without a fight, and the Honey Buzzard’s nostrils are protected by an overlapping plate that prevents the insects gaining access, just one of many adaptations to their curious lifestyle.

The fact that Honey Buzzards migrate is not in itself a surprise. In fact, it is inevitable given their diet: during northern winters, bees and wasps are largely dormant and colonies will have dwindled, represented in the main by a few hibernating queens.

So, unsurprisingly, they head south for the winter, mostly to sub-Saharan Africa, where the pickings are better. Southward migration tends to be staggered and prolonged, but, in contrast, spring migration can be spectacularly intense in certain locations, with mass movements of birds occurring when conditions are right for soaring and gliding. In Eilat, in southern Israel, there are occasional days in late April and early May, when more than 100,000 birds are seen in a single morning – that’s a significant proportion of the entire world population.

Migration is thirsty work and Honey Buzzards relish the opportunity for a quick drink. Coming in to land over water presents great opportunities for photographers because the birds will be underlit by reflections off the pool’s surface.

On migration (outside the UK), if you see one Honey Buzzard you are likely to see dozens if not hundreds. Early mornings are usually spent seeking thermals as the ground warms up and air rises. Once a decent thermal has been found, more and more birds arrive, circle and rise to immense heights before gliding northwards towards their breeding grounds.

During the breeding season, Honey Buzzards are associated with woodland habitats and are typically secretive and unobtrusive. They spend a lot of their time following the activity of wasps and bees in order to locate their nests.

Once a Honey Buzzard gets a sense that a wasp or bee nest is nearby, the hunt will be on to find it. Ground-nesting wasps can be very discrete early in the season, and birds may have to spend time on the ground to locate their prize.

The Arava Valley, flanked by the Eilat Mountains, is an important migration route in spring. The mountains are both an obstacle and a blessing for the birds – the east-facing flanks of the peaks warm up after first light and generate plenty of thermals.