Two European Honey Buzzards, Pernis apivoris, showing very different plumages, soaring in a thermal in the South of Spain near Tarifa, in preparation for its migration south over the Strait of Gibraltar towards Morocco en route to its wintering grounds in sub-Saharan Africa.
Honey Buzzards are not in the same genus as Common Buzzards, but are in the same large family, Accipitridae.
Their scientific name comes from the Greek Pernes, ‘hawk’ and the Latin words api and vorus, ‘bee-eater’). They are forest birds which feed mainly on the larvae of bees, wasps and hornets, though they also eat e.g. small mammals and reptiles. They have small, scale-like feathers around the eyes and forehead which may protect them from bee and wasp stings when they are raiding nests to find larvae. They may have a chemical in their feathers which deters insect attacts and they may have a degree of natural protection from the venom in stings.
The birds which use the western migration route over the Straits come from Scandinavia and western Europe.
Both photos are © Liz Leyden, all rights reserved.
