European Honey Buzzard

The European honey buzzard is an insectivorous bird of prey, 52–60 cm long, longer and longer winged than the common buzzard, with a wingspan of 130–150 cm, but lighter at 440–1,050 g. It has a longer tail with fewer bars than the Buteo buzzards, usually two narrow dark bars and a broad dark subterminal bar. Unusually for a large bird of prey the sexes differ in plumage: the male has a blue-grey head and the female a brown one (Wikipedia, general species account).

It breeds in woodland in Europe and western Asia and winters in Africa. It is inconspicuous except in spring, when the display includes wing-clapping, and breeding males are fiercely territorial. It is a specialist feeder, living mainly on the larvae and nests of wasps and hornets, though it takes small mammals, reptiles and birds. The clutch is typically two eggs. The cached account gives no detail specific to India. SoIB 2023 lists it as a winter migrant of non-specialised habitat, without a priority category (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).