Oriental Honey-buzzard

 Oriental Honey-buzzard / Helang Lebah / Pernis ptilorhynchus

As both its Malay and English names indicate, this bird has a specialist diet.  When it can, it plunders bee and wasp nests.  Honey buzzards will follow bees (or wasps) back to their nest.  Once a nest is found it is broken open and the larvae are eaten; not the honey.  Accordingly, the Malay name, Helang Lebah (‘bee eagle’) is more accurate.  If bees are unavailable it will also eat small mammals, nestling birds, worms, and- more unusually- fruit and berries.

This bird was preening its feathers before looking in my direction.




Another inaccuracy of the English name is that the honey-buzzard is not a buzzard.  Buzzards, properly, are broad-winged hawks of the genus Buteo, whereas the Honey-buzzard is in a different genus, Pernis.  The confusion is understandable, however.  Young of the European Honey-buzzard (Pernis apivorus) look like the Common Buzzard, Buteo buteo and young of the Oriental Honey-buzzard look like hawk-eagles in the genus Nisaetus.  

Would the crest (not always visible) make a large raptor think this bird is a much stronger hawk eagle?




Mimicry is a common feature of biology.  To avoid being eaten, non-venomous snakes mimic venomous snakes and non-toxic butterflies mimic toxic species.  The same sort of thing is likely the case with honey-buzzards.  They are weaklings of the raptor world; juveniles can easily be killed by goshawks.  By mimicking a stronger raptor they are less likely to become prey.

One bold House Crow, in a mob of three. The crows eventually succeed in forcing this honey-buzzard to leave their territory.


Some of the honey-buzzards we see are full-time residents of Malaysia, whilst others are migrants spending their summer in northern Asia (Siberia, Mongolia, China, Korea and Japan).  Twice a year (March and October) the migrants can be seen in seen in large flocks at Tanjung Tuan, Melaka.  The March migration is especially impressive with 2000 or more migrants in a day.  The Malaysian Nature Society holds an annual Raptor Watch (MNS Raptor Watch 2019) although, likely to be cancelled this year.

Honey-buzzards form a species group.  Before the Pleistocene ice-ages there was likely only one species ranging across Africa, Europe, and Asia.  It is proposed that climate and sea-level changes split that single species into a species group.  Currently four species are recognised, based on RNA analysis.  Some authorities would like to further split the resident Malaysian subspecies (P. p. torquatus) of the Oriental honey-buzzard from the migratory honey-buzzards.  Stay tuned.

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