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European Honey-buzzards Tracked from Germany Used Flexible Routes to Africa

European honey-buzzard in flight at Babadag, Türkiye
Research · Ecology

Twelve adult European honey-buzzards (Pernis apivorus) breeding in Germany were followed by satellite telemetry for up to five years in a study published in 2026. The birds were tagged between 2001 and 2011. Eight reached identified wintering areas in West and Central Africa, recorded in Liberia, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon and the Republic of the Congo.

Autumn routes generally ran through France and Spain. In 13 of 20 recorded autumn migrations, involving nine birds, the honey-buzzards crossed the western third of the Pyrenees. Ten birds used the Strait of Gibraltar in 16 migrations, while two birds made three longer crossings over the Mediterranean. Routes were not fixed: individual birds could use different paths in different years, and spring routes generally lay farther east than autumn routes.

The distances between breeding and wintering areas ranged from 6,128 km for a bird wintering in Liberia to 8,645 km for one reaching the Republic of the Congo. Autumn migration lasted 36–99 days and spring migration 23–55 days. Birds covered up to 600 km in a day and reached a maximum recorded speed of 109 km/h.

Females left the breeding area about eight days earlier than males. Four individuals returned to the same wintering area in consecutive years, in some cases across as many as four winters. The researchers also calculated small winter home ranges for two birds from GPS fixes.

Sources and image credit

  1. Meyburg, B.-U., & Ziesemer, F. (2026). Migration and wintering of adult European honey buzzards (Pernis apivorus) breeding in Germany, as revealed by satellite telemetry. Raptor Journal, 20. https://doi.org/10.2478/srj-2026-0006Primary peer-reviewed research article. Twelve adult European honey-buzzards breeding in Germany were tracked by satellite telemetry for up to five years, documenting migration routes and wintering areas in West and Central Africa.

Image: Charles J. Sharp — wild European honey-buzzard in flight at Babadag, Türkiye, 12 June 2025; Wikimedia Commons; representative species image, not one of the satellite-tracked study birds; cropped to 16:9 · CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ · Source

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