Honey buzzard
| Honey buzzard | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Honey buzzard ( Pernis apivorus ), male |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Pernis apivorus | ||||||||||||
| ( Linnaeus , 1758) |
The honey buzzard ( Pernis apivorus ) is a species of bird from the hawk family (Accipitridae). It is about the size of a common buzzard . The species inhabits most of Europe and western Asia .
The German name refers to the special food, which mainly consists of the brood of social wasps of the genus Vespula . The honey buzzard shows numerous morphological and phenological peculiarities in adaptation to this special food , the nostrils are slit-shaped, especially the head plumage is very stiff and the feet are optimized for digging. The species does not come back from the African winter quarters until very late, so that the rearing of the young falls in the time of the greatest frequency of wasps in midsummer.
description
.jpg)
Honey buzzards are slightly larger than common buzzards , they are also more long-winged and long-tailed than this species, but on average a little lighter. The body length is 50–60 cm, of which 21–27 cm is the tail. The wingspan is 118–144 cm. The sex dimorphism in terms of size is very small; Males reach 94% the size of females. Males from Central Europe have wing lengths between 383 and 441 mm, on average 409 mm, females from this area measure 397-430 mm, on average 415 mm. So far, there is apparently hardly any representative data on weight; in August males from Europe weighed 790–943 g, with an average of 836 g; Females 790–1050 g, mean 963 g.
The head looks a bit pigeon-like, as the supraorbital shield over the eye is not very well developed. Adult male birds usually have a blue-gray colored head, in females this coloring is reduced or absent, so that the head, like the rest of the upper side, is predominantly brown. The relatively small and slender beak is black-gray. In adult birds, the wax skin is dark gray and the iris is yellow. The legs are also yellow, the claws are black.
In adult birds, the entire upper side is almost a solid brown. The wings of the hand and arm, as well as the thrust, show a broad, dark end band and two further, narrower, dark bands; one near the base and the second at about the first third of the feathers. In contrast, the impact of buzzards mostly on 8-12 horizontal stripes.
The bottom is considerably more variable. In most birds, the body and all of the under wing-coverts are broadly banded across from medium brown to beige brown on a whitish background. The whitish gray wings and the equally colored underside of the tail are clearly set off from this. The dark bands of the wings and tail are much more noticeable than on the top. Birds with a very dark, dark brown underside or those that are cream-colored to almost white underneath are rarer. In all color variants, however, the species shows the dark bands on the tail and wings as well as a large dark bow spot on the front edge of the lower wing, the latter is very noticeable in light birds.
In flight, the wing tips are clearly rounded, the trailing edge of the wing is slightly S-shaped. The tail length corresponds approximately to the wing width, the tail corners are rounded. When circling, the wings are held horizontally, usually slightly bent down when gliding.
Young birds differ significantly from adults up to the first moult . The trunk of dark birds is monochrome, in light birds, especially on the neck and chest, it is strongly spotted or dashed. As in adult birds, the wings and tail show three bands, but the end band is much narrower. Both the tail and the wings are also more or less regularly and tightly transversely banded, so that the three bands are less noticeable overall. The wax skin is yellow, the iris dark brown.
The honey buzzard, when adapted to its highly specialized diet, shows some special characteristics that distinguish it from all other European birds of prey. The beak is optimized for pulling wasp larvae out of honeycombs . It is relatively long and narrow, the upper bill is only slightly curved. To protect against stings, the nostrils are narrow and slit-shaped, the plumage on the head is scale-like and, above all, very dense and stiff around the eyes. The legs are mainly adapted to digging in the ground. The tarsometatarsus is short and very strong, the featherless part is very thickly scaled. The claws are hardly bent.
Vocalizations
Overall, wasp buzzards are noticeably quiet compared to other Central European birds of prey. The courtship call that is still heard most often is a polysyllabic, whimpering whimper or whistling, which can be rendered as “bliüi-joid-joid”, “gliüü-hü-hü-hü-hü-ü” or “fllieuw”. This call is made during courtship flights, but also when there is excitement or threat. A comparatively quiet, rattling and pitch-changing “rattle call”, which is used primarily when relieving the partner at the nest, is noticed even less often.
Also in contrast to most of the other Central European birds of prey, young honey buzzards are almost mute after they have fled. Only when an adult bird comes to the eyrie with food do the young birds call occasionally and then only for a maximum of one minute. These begging calls are similar to the courtship calls of adult birds.
distribution
The species inhabits a relatively small area in the western Palearctic . The distribution area covers most of Europe as well as southwestern Siberia . The exact eastern boundary of the area is not yet known, it is assumed to be in the Tomsk - Novosibirsk - Barnaul region . The honey buzzard is absent in the Atlantic extreme west and in northern Europe. In Great Britain the species occurs only in the south and east and locally in the east of Scotland ; the further north-western or northern distribution limit runs through south-eastern Norway , central Sweden and central Finland and then in Russia between about 61 ° and 63 ° north.
The southern limit of distribution runs through central Spain , southern Italy and southern Greece . Further east, the distribution area divides into a northern and a southern part, bypassing the Central Asian steppe region. The southern limit of the large northern subarea follows the west coast of the Black Sea to the north . The further course of the southern border is also not exactly clarified there, it probably runs along a line Volgograd - Uralsk - Omsk to the northern foreland of the Altai . The relatively narrow southern subarea stretches along the northern edge of Turkey and from the eastern shore of the Black Sea to the Caucasus and north of Iran .
The distribution area of the honey buzzard thus essentially comprises the temperate zone of subcontinental to continental Europe and westernmost Asia.
Systematics
No subspecies are distinguished for the species. Some authors considered the very similar European honey buzzard ( Pernis ptilorhynchus ) to be a subspecies of the honey buzzard. However , due to morphological differences, neither Glutz von Blotzheim et al. still Ferguson-Lees & Christie. A molecular genetic investigation of the genus Pernis confirmed this view, the two species are therefore not sister taxa .
habitat
The honey buzzard inhabits at least partially forested landscapes of all kinds; Forest areas that are structured by clearings or varied edges or that are close to varied wetlands are preferred. The regular occurrence ranges from the flatlands to the montane level, the highest breeding records have been made in the Alps at around 1500 m.
nutrition
The honey buzzard is highly specialized in terms of its diet and in this respect occupies a special position among European birds of prey. At least in the breeding area it feeds predominantly on the brood of social wasps of the genus Vespula , in Central Europe mainly on the brood of the German wasp and the common wasp . The main search strategy is persistent sitting in trees below the treetop in loosened forests, on forest edges and on similar, open structures. Honey buzzards are probably looking for flying wasps that disappear near the ground. The nests found are excavated and the parts are transported piece by piece with larvae and pupae to their own nest until all the combs are exploited. While digging, the honey buzzard closes its eyes; the feathers, which are very dense, especially on the head, protect the bird from stings.
In addition to wasp nests, the nests of bumblebees are also excavated. Small vertebrates play especially in wet and cool and wasps poor summers an important role, most often the type Frogs captured the genus Rana - both "green frogs" ( pond , lake and Pool Frog ) and grass and moor frogs . Nest young birds are also regularly prey. According to gastric examinations, the food spectrum includes not only these main prey but also reptiles and a broad spectrum of primarily ground-dwelling invertebrates ; many of these species appear to catch honey buzzards on long hunts on foot. Small mammals such as mice , on the other hand, are rare exceptional prey. Carrion buzzards seldom ingest; Specimens that have sometimes been observed on dead animals are in the majority of cases targeting the fly maggots they contain . Fruits are also eaten in late summer, especially plums , cherries and berries.
Use of space and settlement density
So far there has only been one study of the size of the action area during the breeding season with the help of telemetry transmitters . In the years 1993–1995 two males and two females were transmitted in Schleswig-Holstein . The two males flew over an area of 17.0 km² and 22.0 km². They showed clear territorial behavior, but the area marked by territorial flights was significantly smaller and only covered about 6.4 km² and 3.8 km². The two females used about twice as large areas as the males, the areas flown over were 43.5 km² and 45.0 km² respectively. The females showed hardly any territorial behavior, and their areas of activity overlapped extensively with those of conspecifics.
Little information is available on settlement density. Between 1976 and 1998, 13 to 46 pairs were found on an area of 640 km² in North Rhine-Westphalia, which corresponds to 2.0 to 7.2 pairs / 100 km², with the settlement density showing a strongly decreasing trend. For the Dutch province of Drenthe , around 80 pairs were determined between 1980 and 1991, corresponding to 2.0 pairs / 100 km².
Reproduction
Courtship and nest building
After arriving in the breeding area, the male mates especially in May and then again from mid-July and August. The spectacular courtship flight consists of long flights in one direction that suddenly turn into a flat wave flight. At the highest point of a "wave", the male stretches its wings upwards and almost flaps them 4 to 10 times over the back, this is often referred to as "butterfly flight". It is often called. This courtship flight takes place both over the eyrie area and up to several kilometers away from it and presumably serves both the pair bond and the delimitation of food territories from conspecifics.
The nest is almost always built in the largest available forest and as far away from its edges as possible. Trees of all kinds are used to create nests. The trees used are often rather weaker individuals in the stand. The nest is often laid out in the treetop in such a way that it is well protected from view both from above and below, close to the trunk for weaker trees and often on a weaker side branch for thick-trunked trees. Both sexes build. Newly built nests in particular are remarkably small for a bird of this size, with a diameter of 65–90 cm and a height of 25–40 cm. At the latest with the beginning of the breeding season and then until the young birds fly out, most of the nests are constantly covered with leafy twigs; Due to the branches hanging over the edge, the nest is often slightly umbrella-shaped.
Clutch and rearing of young birds
The honey buzzard is one of the particularly late breeding birds of prey in Europe. In Central Europe, eggs are laid in the middle of at the earliest, but usually only from late May to mid-June. In an investigation in the Netherlands, the earliest laying start was May 19 and the latest laying start was June 14; the average laying start was June 1. The clutches consist predominantly of two eggs, rarely just one and very rarely three eggs. In the Netherlands, 39 out of a total of 42 clutches consisted of two eggs; one egg was found twice and three eggs once. The rather round eggs in Central Europe measure an average of 49.8 × 40.8 mm and weigh an average of about 45 g. The eggs are very intensely variegated red-brown to black-brown and blotchy on a whitish to light brown background. The staining is often so extensive that the basic color can hardly be seen.
The breeding season is about 34 days. Both partners breed, separate and go foraging independently of each other. In about the first three weeks after the young hatch, the male procures most of the food, after which the female also participates more and more in the search for food, with one partner usually staying at the nest. The attached honeycombs are emptied cell by cell with the beak of the adult bird and the larvae and pupae are fed to the young birds individually. The young birds can stand at 16–20 days, at around four weeks of age they start to scratch; they then dig up the nest material. In striking contrast to all other European bird of prey species, the young birds do not poop over the edge of the nest as early as possible, so that only a few splashes of excrement can be found on the ground under the nest, even with older young birds. Instead, the excrement is deposited in certain areas on the edge of the nest and forms small piles there. After about 44 days, the young birds fledge and are provided with food until the adult birds leave the nest.
Sexual maturity and age
Honey buzzards are colored in the second year of life and then presumably also sexually mature. Nothing is known about the average age of wild buzzards, the maximum age proven by ringing was 29 years or 27 years and 11 months.
hikes
The honey buzzard migrates long distances , the entire population overwinters in sub- Saharan Africa . Honey buzzards stay in Europe from the beginning of May to the end of August, i.e. only about four months. As thermal pullers , they are pronounced narrow front pullers , larger seas are flown over at the narrowest places. The migration therefore focuses on the known focal points of bird migration in Europe and the Middle East.
Autumn migration
The Scandinavian population migrates via Falsterbo in autumn , where an average of 4704 honey buzzards migrated south from 1973 to 1990. The move begins there in the second decade of August. The main passage takes place in the last decade of August and the first decade of September and then expires quickly. A maximum of 2240 migrants were observed in Falsterbo on one day. The last migrants are observed there in late September or early October. Observations differentiated according to age in the years 1986–1990 gave a somewhat different picture there. The migration of the adult birds was already in progress in the first decade of August and will probably begin at the end of July. The median migration of the adult birds fell on August 27, the last adult migrants were observed in mid-September. The migration of the young birds did not begin until the end of August, the median migration fell on September 11th, which is 15 days later than that of the adults. The last young birds migrate in the first ten days of October.
Just like the Scandinavian birds, the majority of the West and Central European population migrates to the southwest and leaves Europe via Gibraltar , a maximum of 117,000 migrants were counted here in autumn 1972. The main migration takes place there in the first two decades of September, the media date of the migration here in the years 1967–1970 was September 5th. Only a small part crosses the Mediterranean on the route Sicily - Cap Bon .
Part of the Eastern European population moves southeast across the Bosporus ; between 1966 and 1972 a maximum of 25,000 migrants were counted there per autumn. The next train then runs along the eastern Mediterranean coast via eastern Turkey , Syria , Lebanon and Israel to Africa. However, the majority of the Eastern European and West Asian honey buzzards migrate south along the east coast of the Black Sea , then through eastern Turkey and also via Syria, Lebanon and Israel to Africa. The world's largest concentration of migrating honey buzzards is therefore observed over Israel. In Kefar Kassem north of Tel Aviv , an average of 337,000 migrants were recorded in autumn from 1982 to 1987, in the "Northern Valleys" further north, an average of 370,000 migrants per autumn were counted from 1988 to 1990 with daily totals of up to 84,000 individuals.
In order to be able to track individual migration routes, honey buzzards were provided with satellite telemetry transmitters in Sweden in the years 1997-2000 . It was possible to identify significantly different migration strategies of adult and juvenile birds. Five adult birds withdrew from the breeding area between August 16 and September 7, on average on August 23, and another bird was found injured 11 days after its release on September 15. Five birds left Sweden via Falsterbo, the sixth bird crossed the Baltic Sea further east. All six birds then migrated in a relatively narrow corridor to the SW through Germany, France and Spain, crossed the Mediterranean near Gibraltar and then migrated further south across the western Sahara . The five birds healthy before the departure arrived between September 21 and October 21, on average on October 5, in their West African winter quarters between Sierra Leone and Cameroon .
Three juveniles did not leave until September 5-15, an average of September 12, and flew more or less directly south. One bird crossed the Mediterranean far east of Gibraltar at about the level of the Balearic Islands and reached Africa in Algeria , two other birds migrated over the central Mediterranean or Italy and reached Africa at Cap Bon in Tunisia . From their place of arrival in Africa, the young birds then migrated further south via the Central Sahara. On their migration, the young birds took up to 16 days long breaks and therefore only reached the same winter quarters as the adult birds between November 11th and 13th, an average of 37 days after the adult birds.
Winter quarters
Up to and including 1996 there were 54 finds from the winter quarters of wasp buzzards that were ringed nest-young in Western and Central Europe as well as in Scandinavia and Finland . These recoveries were all made in the tropical rainforest south of the Sahara, from Sierra Leone in the west to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in central Africa. According to visual observations, however, the species also overwinters in all of the rest of sub-Saharan Africa, and it is possible that birds from the eastern parts of the range that reach Africa mainly from the northeast overwinter here.
Spring migration
Birds of the previous year are rarely seen in Europe, so these birds spend the summer mostly in their winter quarters in their first year of life. It is not yet known when the adult honey buzzards will leave their African winter quarters. The migration home via Gibraltar begins hesitantly around April 20th, reaches its peak at the beginning of May and then expires very quickly, with the last migrants at the beginning of June. The median return home is May 11th. Most of the east migrants leave Africa at its northeastern tip, fly around the Red Sea at the northern end near Eilat and then move further north and northeast. The time course of the train via Eilat is similar to that via Gibraltar with the first migrants in April, the train also culminates there in early May and then expires at the end of May. Similar to the autumn migration via Kefar Kassem, an average of around 363,000 individuals passed through each spring between 1977 and 1988, with a maximum of 852,000 homecomers observed in the spring of 1985. In Central Europe, the species arrives in the breeding areas at the end of April at the earliest, but usually not until the beginning of May.
Population development and endangerment
Large-scale inventory surveys are very difficult with this species due to the late arrival in the breeding areas and the very secret way of life and are therefore rarely available; The following population figures are therefore only rough estimates. For Germany around the year 2002 4000–4900 pairs were given, for Austria around 1500 and for Switzerland in the mid-1990s 400–600 pairs. The total population in Europe and the Middle East was estimated at around 130,000 pairs around 2000. However, since a maximum of 852,000 homecomers were recorded in Eilat alone (see above), which would correspond to around 425,000 pairs, a considerable underestimation of the population can be assumed, even if the Siberian population not included in the above total is taken into account.
In the Red List of Germany's breeding birds from 2015, the species is listed in Category 3 as endangered. According to the IUCN , the honey buzzard is considered safe worldwide (“Least Concern”).
Like many European bird of prey species, the honey buzzard is "strictly protected" by the Birds Directive in accordance with Appendix I and the Bern Convention. It is protected according to the Washington Convention on the Protection of Species and / or the "EC Regulation No. 338/97 for the implementation of the Convention on the Protection of Species in Washington" and the Bonn Convention .
Others
In English the honey buzzard is also erroneously called honey buzzard , although bees and their honey play practically no role in the nutrition of the honey buzzard , as they build their honeycombs in places that are usually inaccessible to the bird. The name runners' falcon, on the other hand, comes from the fact that honey buzzards can cover longer distances on foot in search of food.
swell
literature
- Rob G. Bijlsma: Ecological Atlas van de Nederlandse Roofvogels. Schuyt & Co, Haarlem, 1993, ISBN 90-6097-348-8 .
- Dick Forsman: The Raptors of Europe and the Middle East. A Handbook of Field Identification. T & AD Poyser, London 1999, ISBN 0-85661-098-4
- Urs N. Glutz von Blotzheim , Kurt M. Bauer , Einhard Bezzel : Handbook of the birds of Central Europe. Volume 4: Falconiformes. 2nd, revised edition. AULA-Verlag, Wiesbaden 1989, ISBN 3-89104-460-7 .
- Ornithological working group for Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg eV (Hrsg.): Vogelwelt Schleswig-Holstein. Volume 2: Volkher Looft, Günther Busche: Birds of Prey. Karl Wachholtz, Neumünster 1981, ISBN 3-529-07302-4 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ UN Glutz v. Blotzheim, KM Bauer, E. Bezzel: Handbook of the birds of Central Europe. Volume 4. 2nd, revised edition. 1989, p. 59.
- ↑ James Ferguson-Lees, David A. Christie: Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London, 2001, ISBN 0-7136-8026-1 , p. 345.
- ^ A. Gamauf, E. Haring: Molecular phylogeny and biogeography of Honey-buzzards (genera Pernis and Henicopernis) In: Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research. Vol. 42, No. 2, 2004, ISSN 0947-5745 , pp. 145-153, doi: 10.1111 / j.1439-0469.2004.00250.x .
- ↑ F. Ziesemer: Use of space and behavior of honey buzzards (Pernis apivorus) during the rearing of young and at the beginning of the migration - a telemetric investigation. In: Corax. Vol. 17, 1997, ISSN 0589-686X , pp. 19-34.
- ↑ Working group of birds of prey North Rhine-Westphalia of the NWO: The population development and the breeding success of the honey buzzard (Pernis apivorus) in North Rhine-Westphalia from 1972–1998 with information on territory behavior, moulting and ringing results. In: Charadrius. Vol. 36, 2000, ISSN 0174-1004 , pp. 58-79.
- ^ Bijlsma: Ecological Atlas van de Nederlandse Roofvogels. 1993, p. 63.
- ^ Bijlsma: Ecological Atlas van de Nederlandse Roofvogels. 1993, p. 73.
- ^ Bijlsma: Ecological Atlas van de Nederlandse Roofvogels. 1993, p. 74.
- ^ Fransson, T., Jansson, L., Kolehmainen, T., Kroon, C. & Wenniger, T. (2017): EURING List of longevity records for European birds
- ^ Lennart Karlsson: Birds at Falsterbo (= Anser. Supplement 33). Skanes Ornitologiska Förening, Lund 1993, ISBN 91-86572-20-2 , pp. 46, 124.
- ^ Nils Kjellén: Differential timing of autumn migration between sex and age groups in raptors at Falsterbo, Sweden. In: Ornis Scandinavica. Vol. 23, No. 4, 1992, ISSN 0030-5693 , pp. 420-434.
- ^ Forsman: The Raptors of Europe and the Middle East. A Handbook of Field Identification. 1999, p. 30.
- ^ A b P. R. Evans, GW Lathbury: Raptor migration across the straits of Gibraltar. In: Ibis. Vol. 115, No. 4, 1973, ISSN 0019-1019 , pp. 572-585, doi: 10.1111 / j.1474-919X.1973.tb01994.x .
- ^ B. Acar, M. Beaman, RF Porter: Status and Migration of Birds of Prey in Turkey. In: RD Chancellor (Ed.): World Conference on Birds of Prey. Vienna, October 1-3, 1975. Report of Proceedings. International Council for Bird Preservation, London 1977, ISBN 0-85066-116-1 , pp. 182-187.
- ^ E. Dovrat: The Kefar Kassem Raptor Migration Survey, Autumns 1977-1987: a brief summary. In: David Yekutiel (ed.): Raptors in Israel: Passage and wintering populations. International Birdwatching Center Eilat, Eilat 1991, pp. 13-30.
- ↑ A. Tsovel, D. Allon: Soaring bird migration survey in the Northern Valleys of Israel, Autumns 1988-1990. In: David Yekutiel (ed.): Raptors in Israel: Passage and wintering populations. International Birdwatching Center Eilat, Eilat 1991, pp. 31-45.
- ↑ Mikael Hake, Nils Kjellén, Thomas Alerstam: Age-dependent migration strategy in honey buzzards Pernis apivorus tracked by satellite. In: Oikos. Vol. 103, No. 2, 2003, ISSN 0030-1299 , pp. 385-396, doi: 10.1034 / j.1600-0706.2003.12145.x .
- ↑ Hans Schmid: Separate ways: The autumn migration of juvenile and adult honey buzzards Pernis apivorus - a synthesis. In: The ornithological observer. Vol. 97, No. 3, 2000, ISSN 0030-5707 , pp. 191-222, online (PDF; 2.55 MB) .
- ↑ H. Shirihai, D. Yekutiel: Raptor migration at Eilat - Spring 1988. In: David Yekutiel (Ed.): Raptors in Israel: Passage and wintering populations. International Birdwatching Center Eilat, Eilat 1991, pp. 2-12.
- ^ Theodor Mebs , Daniel Schmidt: The birds of prey in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. Biology, characteristics, stocks. Kosmos, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-440-09585-1 , pp. 143-145.
- ↑ Christoph Grüneberg, Hans-Günther Bauer, Heiko Haupt, Ommo Hüppop, Torsten Ryslavy, Peter Südbeck: Red List of Germany's Breeding Birds , 5 version . In: German Council for Bird Protection (Hrsg.): Reports on bird protection . tape 52 , November 30, 2015.
Web links
- Pernis apivorus in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2008. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2008. Accessed October 13 of 2008.
- Age and gender characteristics (PDF; 5.4 MB) by J. Blasco-Zumeta and G.-M. Heinze (eng.)
- Feathers of the honey buzzard
