Crested honey buzzard

The crested honey buzzard (Pernis ptilorhynchus)[3] is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as kites, eagles, and harriers. This species is also known as the Oriental honey buzzard. The name is derived from its diet which consists mainly of the larvae of bees and wasps extracted from honey combs.

Crested honey buzzard
Female in Mudumalai, India
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Accipitriformes
Family: Accipitridae
Genus: Pernis
Species:
P. ptilorhynchus
Binomial name
Pernis ptilorhynchus
(Temminck, 1821)
Synonyms
  • Falco ptilorhynchus Temminck, 1821[2]
  • Falco ptilorhyncus Temminck, 1822
Front view of male, Valparai, Tamil Nadu, India
In flight over Thane district, Maharashtra, India

Description

Despite its name, this species is not related to Buteo buzzards, and is taxonomically closer to the kites.[4] It appears long-necked with a small head (resembling that of a pigeon), and soars on flat wings. The head lacks a strong superciliary ridge, giving it a facial appearance very unlike a raptor. It has a long tail and a short head crest. It is brown above, but not as dark as the European honey buzzard, and paler below. A dark throat stripe is present. Unusually for a large bird of prey, the sexes can be distinguished. The male has a blue-grey head with brown iris, while the female's head is brown and the iris is yellow. She is slightly larger and darker than the male. The male has two black bands in the tail and three black underwing bands, while the female has three black tail bands and four narrower black underwing bands. The juvenile has extensive black primary tips with narrower under-wing bands. It has a yellow cere at the base of the bill, and a dark iris. [5] The colouration and the tail pattern of the species are highly variable.[6]

The similarity in plumage between juvenile crested honey buzzards and the Nisaetus hawk-eagles may have arisen as a partial protection against predation by larger raptors. The eagles have stronger bills and talons, and are likely to be less vulnerable than the Pernis species. Similar mimicry is shown by the juveniles of the European honey buzzard, which resembles the common buzzard. Although the northern goshawk is capable of killing both species, it is likely to be more cautious about attacking the better protected Buteo species.

Distribution and habitat

The crested honey buzzard is a summer migrant to Siberia, wintering in tropical Southeast Asia. Elsewhere, it is more-or-less resident. Crested buzzards that migrate from breeding areas in Japan to wintering areas in Southeast Asia fly over the East China Sea. This 700-km nonstop flight over water is possible because during autumn, winds over the sea blow in the same direction as the birds' direction of flight (i.e. wind support).[7] As climate change affects wind conditions worldwide, the wind support over the East China Sea could be reduced.[8]

Behaviour and Ecology
Roller coaster display of Pernis species

Diet

The crested honey buzzard is a specialist feeder, living mainly on the larvae of social bees and wasps, and eating bits of comb and honey.[9][10] The tongue has a groove adapted for extracting larvae from the honey comb.[11] It takes other small insect prey such as cicadas.[12] It occasionally eats small birds, reptiles and frogs like other raptors.[6]

Breeding

The crested honey buzzard breeds in woodland, and is inconspicuous except in the spring, when the mating display includes wing-clapping. The display of roller-coasting in flight and fluttering wings at the peak of the ascent are characteristic of the genus Pernis.[13][14] It breeds in Asia from central Siberia east to Japan. The nesting season in India is April - June, though it starts in February in South India. Male and female share the responsibilities of rearing the young.[6]

Folklore

In the Java island of Indonesia, people living in or near forested areas suffer from attacks, sometimes fatal, by giant honey bees. The local people and honey collectors blame the honey buzzards for these attacks. This raptor attacks the nests of the giant honey bee. As it flies away with a piece of the honeycomb in its claws, it is pursued by angry bees. The local belief is that as its escape strategy the honey buzzard flies close to humans in the vicinity to transfer the attack of the angry bees to the humans. However, in a study of the hunting behaviour of honey buzzards conducted between 2003 to 2019, no evidence of this strategy was observed by the researchers. They surmised that a decline in the habitat due to human activity has increased the conflict between bees and humans.[10]

Taxonomy

Pernis ptilorhynchus includes the following subspecies:[15]

  • P. p. orientalis - Taczanowski, 1891
  • P. p. ruficollis - Lesson, R, 1830
  • P. p. torquatus - Lesson, R, 1830
  • P. p. ptilorhynchus - (Temminck, 1821)
  • P. p. palawanensis - Stresemann, 1940
  • P. p. philippensis - Mayr, 1939

References
  1. BirdLife International (2016). "Pernis ptilorhynchus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22694995A93483912. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22694995A93483912.en. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
  2. Dickinson, Edward C. (2012). "The first twenty livraisons of Les Planches Coloriées d'Oiseaux of Temminck & Laugier (1820–1839): IV. Discovery of the remaining wrappers". Zoological Bibliography. 2 (1): 34–49.
  3. "Pernis ptilorhynchus (Crested Honey Buzzard)". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  4. Finlayson, Clive (2011). Avian Survivors: The History and Biogeography of Palearctic Birds. London, UK: T & AD Poyser. pp. 121–132. ISBN 978-0-7136-8865-8.
  5. Grimmett, Richard; Inskipp, Carol; Inskipp, Tim (2011). Birds of the Indian Subcontinent. London: Christopher Helm. pp. 106–107. ISBN 9788193315095.
  6. Ali, Sálim (2002). The Book of Indian Birds (13th ed.). New Delhi: Bombay Natural History Society Oxford University Press. pp. 11, 95. ISBN 0195665236.
  7. Nourani, Elham; Yamaguchi, Noriyuki M; Manda, Atsuyoshi; Higuchi, Hiroyoshi (2016). "Wind conditions facilitate the seasonal water-crossing behaviour of Oriental Honey-buzzards Pernis ptilorhynchus over the East China Sea". Ibis. 158 (3): 506–518. doi:10.1111/ibi.12383.
  8. Nourani, Elham; Yamaguchi, Noriyuki M; Higuchi, Hiroyoshi (2017). "Climate change alters the optimal wind-dependent flight routes of an avian migrant". Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 284 (1854): 20170149. doi:10.1098/rspb.2017.0149. PMC 5443942. PMID 28469028.
  9. "Oriental Honey-buzzard (Pernis ptilorhynchus)".
  10. Kahono, Sih; Prawiradilaga, Dewi M.; Peggie, Djunijanti; Erniwati; Sulistyadi, Eko (December 2020). "First Report on Hunting Behavior of Migratory Oriental Honey-Buzzard (Pernis Ptilorhynchus Orientalis) Towards Migratory Giant Honeybee (Apis Dorsata Dorsata) (Hymenoptera: Apidae) on Java Island, Indonesia". Treubia. 47 (2): 123–132.
  11. Birds@IITK. "Oriental Honey-buzzard". IIT Kanpur. Retrieved 29 Jan 2022.
  12. Brues, Charles T. (1950). "Large Raptorial Birds as Enemies of Cicadas" (PDF). Psyche. 57 (2): 74–76. doi:10.1155/1950/49542. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-07-18. Retrieved 2009-06-30.
  13. James Ferguson-Lees; David A. Christie; Kim Franklin; Philip Burton; David Mead (2001). Raptors of the World: An Identification Guide to the Birds of Prey of the World. HMCo Field Guides. ISBN 978-0-618-12762-7.
  14. Gewers, G.; Curio, E.; Hembra, S. H. (2006). "First observation of an advertisement display flight of 'Steere's Honey-buzzard' Pernis (celebensis) steerei on Panay, Philippines" (PDF). Forktail. 22: 163–165. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-02-26.
  15. Gill F, D Donsker & P Rasmussen (Eds). 2020. IOC World Bird List (v10.2). doi : 10.14344/IOC.ML.10.2.
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