Honey Buzzard
Pernis apivorus L., 1758
Order Falconiformes
Family Accipitridae
Conservation status: in Bulgaria: Vulnerable VU=[A4c,e+D1], BDA-II, III; International: CITES-II, BeC-II, BoC-II, BD-I.
General distribution. A species with a European type of distribution. It breeds in Western Siberia, Asia Minor and Europe (without the northernmost and northwesternmost regions and the vast forestless valleys). It winters in Africa, to the south of Sahara.
Distribution and abundance in Bulgaria. A breeding summer visitor, widely distributed in the past [1]. At the beginning of the 1980s, the numbers were estimated at 200 – 350 pairs [2]. It is common in the Eastern Balkan range, the mountains Strandzha and Eastern Rhodopes; in the valleys it is less frequent. In the habitats registered so far, the forest territory inhabited is about 20 – 25 000 km2 [3]. At a density of 1 pair per 50-100 km2, the numbers are most probably 300-400 breeding pairs. Other estimates give 150-300 [4] and even 750 – 900 pairs [5]. The tendency in the dynamic of the population in the last 40-45 years has not been clarified.
Habitats. It prefers high-stem deciduous forests but it also breeds in mixed and coniferous forests at altitudes of up to 1 600 – 1 700 m in the vicinity of open spaces. Numerous during migration along the Black Sea coast, especially at the end of the August and the beginning of September [6].
Biology. The pairs occupy the breeding territories in April. It breeds only on trees, at a height of 10-22 m, or uses the nests of other birds of prey. In April-May it lays 2, very rarely 1, 3 or 4 eggs. Incubation continues for 28 – 35 days, and the young ones remain in the nest for 40 – 45 days [2; 7]. A family with 4 young that left their nests was observed on 29 June 2002 near the village of Bunovo, Sofia region. It mainly feeds on larvae of bumble bees and bees, hornets and other insects, small birds, reptiles and rodents. The breeding area is over 1 000 ha, but it looks for food up to 7 km away from the nest [8]. In comparison with the other birds of prey, it spends comparatively little time in Bulgaria and as early as in August it starts flying away to the south. Singuar birds have been observed in December.
Similar species. The Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo).
Negative factors. Mass felling of old forests and disturbance. Human poaching. Use of pesticides in agriculture.
Conservation measures taken. Protected according to the Biological Diversity Act. Included in the Red Data Book of Bulgaria (1985). About 15% of the pairs breed in Protected Territories.
Conservation measures needed. Declaring Protected Territories in the mountains, the Ludogorie region and Dobrudzha, restriction of the use of old forests and a moratorium on their use in closed forest basins [9].
References. 1. Patev, 1950; 2. Spiridonov, 1985; 3. Iankov, in press; 4. Birdlife international (2004); 5. Nankinov et al., 2004; 6. Roberts, 1979; 7. Makatsch, 1976; 8. Bijlsma, 1997; 9. Spiridonov, Raev, 2006.
Authors: Dobromir Domuschiev, Geko Spiridonov
