Honey Buzzard: How a Unique Predator Crosses the Skies of Israel
The European honey buzzard is a fascinating migratory raptor flying from Europe to Africa. Migration expert Jonathan Meyrav details the bird's unique anatomy that shields it from wasp stings and explains how to spot them this week.
The European honey buzzard (Pernis apivorus) is one of the most fascinating migratory birds passing through the skies of Israel, carrying a story of extraordinary survival and astonishing adaptations. To understand the challenges it faces along the way and where we can observe them right now, we spoke with Jonathan Meyrav, a senior birder, migration expert, and owner of the Flyways birding tourism company.
Why is it Called a Honey Buzzard?
Its Hebrew name "Aya" appears in the Bible, in the list of unclean birds in the Book of Leviticus. It is a unique raptor that forms an independent subfamily within the bird of prey family. It is important to note that it is not an eagle. Its scientific name Pernis apivorus is derived from words meaning "raptor" and "wasp or bee eater."
Does it actually eat wasps? Jonathan Meyrav explains:
"The honey buzzard does not feed on adult wasps themselves, but rather digs and scrapes the nests of wild bees and wasps to eat their protein-rich larvae and pupae. This food makes up about 80 percent of its entire diet, while the rest of the time it opportunistically hunts reptiles, large insects, and small birds."
Natural Armor Against Stings
How do wasps not sting it? The bird is equipped with incredible physiological adaptations designed to protect it. Its feet have long toes and exceptionally strong talons, which it uses like a rake to expose nests in the ground or inside tree trunks.
The feathers on its face and head are extremely dense and almost scale-like to prevent stings, and it has translucent eyelids that act as protective goggles for its eyes. Furthermore, its nostrils are narrow and elongated, likely to prevent the entry of dirt and insects. In the field, its defense mechanism is eating extremely fast before the swarm wakes up and attacks.
The Migration Route and Team Flight
In the summer, the honey buzzard nests widely across Europe and Asia, mainly in Eastern Europe and Russia, where large forests remain, and spends the winter in Africa. The nesting season ends in August, and then the entire population leaves and migrates south.
Israel is a central migration axis, a funnel through which thousands and tens of thousands of individuals pass daily. The buzzards can fly about 400 km a day, using thermals—columns of hot air rising spirally from the ground. They enter a thermal, soar in it like an elevator up to an altitude of about 2 km, and glide south toward Africa.
During the nesting season, they behave very solitarily. However, towards the migration, many thousands gather for a joint journey. The reason for flocking is flight efficiency and better reading of the airspace. Instead of each bird wasting energy searching independently, an entire flock searching together finds the warm air currents much faster.
Threats and Flight Safety
The mortality rate of juveniles in their first year of life is very high, and the main threat comes directly from humans. In the Mediterranean basin and the Middle East, extensive illegal hunting still occurs, and thousands of buzzards are shot annually.
Additionally, they are affected by the disappearance of forests in Europe due to development, and in recent years, by the Russia-Ukraine war, which disrupts nesting due to military activity. There is also a modern threat of military drones connected to thin fiber-optic cables, which remain hanging on trees like giant spider webs.
Counting migratory birds is a physical task: birders stand at strategic points, looking at the sky with high-end binoculars and telescopes, counting each individual with a hand clicker. These counts save human lives. Tens of thousands of large birds in a crowded airspace pose a massive safety hazard to fighter jets. Birders work in full cooperation with the IAF, mapping the migration route in real-time and sending alerts directly to the cockpit.
Where and When to Look Up?
This massive migration corridor of 350,000 to half a million honey buzzards will pass over Israel for the next two weeks, until around September 20. They enter Israel through the Eastern Galilee and the Golan Heights, gliding south along the Jordan Rift Valley.
Those in the center of the country can see them on the line between Ben Gurion Airport and Jerusalem, roughly along the Route 6 highway. Since westerly winds strengthen as the day progresses, the migration axis is pushed eastward. Around 10:00 AM, they are closer to the center, and in the afternoon, the main mass moves toward the east.
