European Honey-Buzzard ( Pernis apivorus, family: Accipitridae)
Birds & Birding in the Kruger National Park South Africa. In Roberts 6 this bird was called Honey Buzzard
The European Honey-Buzzard (Latin name Pernis apivorus) is described in
Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique
Roberts number of 130 and you will find a full description of this bird
on page 476 also a picture of the European Honey-Buzzard on page 480.
The European Honey-Buzzard belongs to the family of birds classified as
Accipitridae. According to the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African
Ornithology the European Honey-Buzzard is also known by these other
names: Western Honey-Buzzard.
In the previous edition of Roberts (ie 6th edition) the European Honey-Buzzard was called the Honey Buzzard
The map of the Kruger you see on this page shows the areas (coloured orange) where this bird has been identified. The basic information was provided by the Avian Demographic Unit based at UCT and I created the maps from that information ... the green dots show the locations of the various Kruger National Park Rest Camps
The European Honey-Buzzard is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park.
In terms of distribution of the European Honey-Buzzard in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. European Honey-Buzzard : see above distribution map.
Identification assistance for this avian species ...
One of the first indicators to take note of when trying to identify a bird is it relative size. For example how big is the bird compared to a well known familiar bird. The European Honey-Buzzard is a largish bird about the same size as a Pied Crow. The height of the European Honey-Buzzard is about 60 cms and its weight is about 750 gms
You will find that the male European Honey-Buzzard plumage and colours are different to that of the female European Honey-Buzzard
- Head is blue, grey.
- Eye is orange.
- Bill is black.
- Throat is white.
- Back is grey, brown.
- Legs are yellow.
This bird has normally proportioned leg length.
Main diet items for this bird ...
The European Honey-Buzzard feeds on wing mainly
Invertebrates
Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...
The European Honey-Buzzard takes on more than a single mate (it is bigamous).
The nesting habit of European Honey-Buzzard is extra limital
Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...
The preferred habitats for European Honey-Buzzard are: woodlands . The European Honey-Buzzard is also at home in wetland and bushveld areas.
You will normally see the European Honey-Buzzard by itself rather than in the company of birds of the same species.
Names of this avian species in other languages ...
Xhosa ... Unknown
Zulu ... Unknown
Afrikaans ...Wespedief
German ... Wespenbussard
Portuguese ... Btio-vespeiro
French ... Bondre apivore
Dutch ... Wespendief
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For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...
Robert's 7th edition number ... 130
The main reference source for this data was "Roberts - Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition" . Other references were "Newmans Birds of the Kruger Park" by Keith Newman published circa 1980 . Names in foreign languages were obtained from the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town website , www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za
