Oriental honey buzzard

Photo Courtesy: Commons wikimedia

       Introduction of Oriental Honey Buzzard

     Oriental Honey-buzzard (Scientific name: Pernis ptilorhyncus) is included in the family Accipitridae. Kites, Eagles and Harriers also belongs to this family. This species is also known as the The crested honey buzzard.

          How to identify Oriental honey buzzard

      Oriental honey buzzard has slender head and distinctive long neck. Length of  Oriental honey buzzard measures is 20.5 to 26.7 inches and it's  wingspan is 51.3 to 59.2 inches. It weighs around 26.4 to 52.9 ounces. Upper portion is  darkish brown and underpart is pale brown. It ha a crest but  rarely visible.  It has a long striped tail with rounded corners and broad wings with prominently striped underparts.  Underside of wings is barred;  Tarsus is unfeathered.  Because of its short legs, it holds a horizontal posture when placed on the ground. In posed individuals, the tip of the wings is shorter than the end of the long tail.
     Though both the sexes are almost look alike but  age and sex can be  easily determined based on the color of the eye, cere, face and the extent of black on the external primaries.
   In the lower parts, the adult is marked with a variable quantity of thin dark stripes, dark spots or large dark bars or with a combination of them; the young with large dark stripes. The adult has dark gray cere; in the young it is yellow.
    In the male the eye is dark brown and the sides of the face are gray. The lower portion  of the outer primaries has black tips. A clear line of separation with the remaining whitish part of the feathers are visible. A broad dark whitish subterminal band are seen at lower portion of the secondaries. The tail is dark brown.  A wide light band  crosses it in the center.
    Female is slightly larger and darker than the male. In the female the eye is yellow and the sides of the face is brown.  It has no supraorbital ridge over the eye, making the head similar in appearance to that of a pigeon. The upper parts are dark brown, usually with a light area on the top side of the primaries. Underside of  the outer primaries have dark bars which gradually fade towards the lighter bases but does not have a clear separation line. The underside of the body is almost always barred, on average more heavily than those of the males.

            Distribution

       Oriental honey buzzard  are found  in Asia, Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, Philippines and Indonesia. In India it is found upto 2,000m in the Himalaya.
     Six subspecies normally recognized.
      Sp. Pernis ptilorhynchus orientalis:  Ranges from southern Siberia to Manchuria and Japan; winters south to Greater Sundas islands
      Sp. Pernis ptilorhynchus palawanensis: Found in Philippines: Palawan and Calauit islands
      Sp. Ptilorhynchus philippensis:  Found in northern and eastern Philippine Islands
      Sp. Pernis ptilorhynchus ptilorhynchus: Found in Indonesia: Java
      Sp. Ptilorhynchus ruficollis: Found in India and Sri Lanka to Myanmar and extreme southwestern China
      Sp. Ptilorhynchus torquatus: Found in Malay Peninsula to Indonesia (Sumatra and Borneo)

Oriental Honey Buzzard Distribution Map

             Habits and Habitats

      It is found  perched on forest trees or flying alone  or in pairs. It often seen  in villages or  outskirts of small towns. forest, open country, cultivated ares or vicinity of villages. This species often migrate in large flocks.
             Food
      The main food of Oriental Honey Buzzard  is larvae, pupae and adults of various species of wasps and bees. It also feeds on other insects, reptiles and amphibians, small mammals, bird nestlings and bird eggs, as well as some fruits and berries.
           Call Description
     It's call is high-pitched, long-drawn which seems like weeeeeu

               Breeding and Nesting

      In South India breeding season of  Oriental buzzard  starts from March and summer is the breeding season in Northern region. The availability of food is also a factor for breeding. These buzzard species build nests in the forks of trees. The nests were always built about 18-24 metres above ground on old, mature trees.
     The mating display includes wing-clapping and  and roller-coasting in flight  at the peak of the ascent.
     Nest building usually occurred in the morning mainly, although the birds also worked for shorter periods in the afternoon and evening during the early stages. The male usually collect nesting materials. Dry sticks, twigs, leaves and seeds (both dry and fresh) are used as nesting materials. Buzzard reuse the old nest only twice.
     The clutch comprises of two eggs and  the incubation period is around  42–45 days. Both the male and female incubate the eggs. The male offer food to the female or vice-versa, especially when relieving each other from incubation duty.  The female spend  more time incubating especially at night. From courtship and the fledgling of the chick varies from four to five-and-a-half months.