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Bull. B.O.C. 2016 136(2)First record of Crested Honey Buzzard Pernis ptilorhynchus
for Kenya and East Africa
by Adam Scott Kennedy & Rhys M. Marsh
Received 3 January 2016

Crested Honey Buzzard Pernis ptilorhynchus is a widespread Asian raptor with bothresident and migratory populations across its extensive range. The migratory subspecies
P. p. orientalis breeds from southern Siberia east to Japan and North Korea, and spends
the non-breeding season in southern and South-East Asia, while typically sedentary
populations of the other five subspecies (P. p. ruficollis, P. p. torquatus, P. p. ptilorhynchus,
P. p. palawanensis and P. p. philippensis) breed from India east to the Greater Sundas andthe Philippines—a range that roughly mirrors the non-breeding range of P. p. orientalis.
The species has attracted much interest among Western Palearctic birdwatchers in recent
decades, following its discovery on migration in Turkey in autumn 1979 (Laine 1996),
subsequently at the Chokpak Pass, Kazakhstan, since 1993 (Forsman 1994) and, mostrecently, even Cyprus (Harrison 2014) and southern Italy (Scuderi & Corso 2011). It is now
considered an uncommon but regular passage migrant and winter visitor to the Middle
East, where perhaps at least 100 individuals overwinter each year, mainly in Oman, Saudi
Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, but with records from most states (Babbington &Campbell 2016, Forsman 2016). There has been speculation as to the numbers of Crested
Honey Buzzards that might straggle to Africa within flocks of migrant European Honey
Buzzards P. apivorus, especially given the volume of records in Israel (Alon et al. 2004,
Koss et al. 2008). However, there have been just three records from the continent including
just one in sub-Saharan Africa: Egypt, May 1996 (Baha el Din & Baha el Din 1997), Gabon,
August 2004 (Clark & Christy 2006) and Sudan, June 2011 (T. Jenner; www.africanbirdclub.
org/afbid/search/browse/species/234).
On 26 September 2014, RMM photographed an adult female Crested Honey Buzzardin Meru National Park, Kenya (00°12’32”N, 38°03’30”E). The bird was observed flying overfarmland adjacent to Acacia–Commiphora scrub typical of the region. It was always at leastc.250 m from RMM, who managed to take eight photographs (e.g. Figs. 1–2) during the c.1
minute the bird was visible before it was lost from view. This record is the first for Kenya
and East Africa, and the second for sub-Saharan Africa.

Figures 1–2. Crested Honey Buzzard Pernis ptilorhynchus, Meru National Park, Kenya, 26 September 2014 (R.
M. Marsh)© 2016 The Authors; Journal compilation © 2016 British Ornithologists’ Club

Adam Scott Kennedy & Rhys M. Marsh146

Bull. B.O.C. 2016 136(2)The bird was identified during a chance review of the photographs by ASK, whorealised that all of the visible features were clearly consistent with P. ptilorhynchus. Whilethe bird’s structure is similar to P. apivorus, it is noticeably bulkier with a large broad tailand bulging trailing edge to the wing. The wings also show six emarginated primaries
which, combined with structure, is one of the most notable features of P. ptilorhynchus(Ferguson-Lees & Christie 2001, Svensson et al. 2009, Forsman 2016). The underpartsand underwing-coverts are mostly tawny rufous-brown with cream-coloured barring.
The carpal region is slightly darker but lacks the diagnostic dark or blackish patch of P.
apivorus. The inner secondaries show two well-defined bars and the outer secondaries andinner primaries possess three bars. The emarginated primaries are also barred beyond
the emarginations, unlike P. apivorus, which typically shows solid black feather tips. The
undertail pattern consists of one heavy band close to the tip, one clear band beyond theundertail-coverts and one less obvious band at the base. The head is mostly pale creamy
grey with a dark streak through the eye. A conspicuous dark collar and dark mesial streak
are visible. The cere appears greyish and the irides yellow. Other than the upperwing, theupperparts are not visible on any of the images.
While P. apivorus is the sole Pernis expected on the African continent, this observation
confirms that Crested Honey Buzzard does, at least occasionally, migrate to or through East
Africa and that European Honey Buzzards should be carefully scrutinised for the species.
Acknowledgements
We thank Simon Thomsett, Don Turner, Brian Finch, Bill Clark, Nik Borrow, Itai Shanni and Dick Forsman
for confirming the identity of the bird, and the East African Rarities Committee, led by Nigel Hunter, foraccepting the record. We also thank the reviewers for their helpful comments.
References:Alon, D., Granit, B., Shamoun-Baranes, J., Leshem, Y., Kirwan, G. M. & Shirihai, H. 2004. Soaring bird
migration over northem Israel in autumn. Brit. Birds 97: 160–182.
Babbington, J. & Campbell, O. 2016. Recent status and occurrence of Crested Honey Buzzards Pernisptilorhynchus in the Arabian peninsula, with emphasis on Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Sandgrouse 38: 12–22.
Baha el Din, S. & Baha el Din, M. 1997. Crested Honey Buzzard Pernis ptilorhynchus, a new species for Egypt
and the African continent. Bull. Afr. Bird Cl. 4: 31.
Clark, W. S. & Christy, P. 2006. First record of Oriental Honey Buzzard Pernis ptilorhynchus for Gabon andsub-Saharan Africa. Bull. Afr. Bird Cl. 13: 207–210.
Ferguson-Lees, J. & Christie, D. A. 2001. Raptors of the world. Christopher Helm, London.
Forsman, D. 1994. Field identification of Crested Honey Buzzard. Birding World 7: 396–403.
Forsman, D. 2016. Flight identification of raptors of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. Second edn.
Bloomsbury, London.
Harrison, I. 2014. From the rarities committees. Sandgrouse 36: 110–116.
Koss, M., Weiss, N. & Yosef, R. 2008. First winter record of Crested Honey Buzzard Pernis ptilorhyncus forIsrael. Sandgrouse 30: 201–203.
Laine, L. J. 1996. The ‘Borçka puzzle’ – the first Western Palearctic Crested Honey Buzzard. Birding World 9:324–325.
Scuderi, A. & Corso, A. 2011. Crested Honey Buzzard in Europe. Birding World 24: 252–256.
Svensson, L., Mullarney, K. & Zetterström, D. 2009. Collins bird guide. Second edn. HarperCollins, London.
Addresses: Adam Scott Kennedy, 5 Hotham Place, Plymouth PL1 5NE, UK, e-mail: adamscottkennedy@gmail.
com. Rhys M. Marsh, 236 W 26th Street #1001, New York, NY 10001, USA, e-mail: marsh.email@gmail.
com© 2016 The Authors; Journal compilation © 2016 British Ornithologists’ Club