Medium large, long neck and tail, short crest. Sexes similar.
Male: Head, brown. Face, greyish. Eye, dark. Upperparts, dark grey-brown. Throat, white with dark malar and gular stripes. Underparts, pale rufous or dark brown, barred and spotted white. Underwings banded black. Tail has two black bands. Cere, grey. Bill, grey. Legs, yellow.
Female: Head, upperparts, brown. Eye, yellow. Tail has three black bands. Bill, grey. Legs, yellow.
Crested Honey Buzzard (Pernis ptilorhynchus) [XC538855]
by Hantuyk from Fushan Botanical Garden, Yilan County, Taiwan (call)
Crested Honey Buzzard (Pernis ptilorhynchus) [XC763190]
by Jairam Vijayan from Bukit Batok East, Singapore (call)
Breeding Season (Guide)
Does not breed in Australia. Breeds in Asia from central Siberia east to Japan.
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Nest
Large, bulky cupped structure of sticks in a fork of a tree, 6 - 20 m above the ground.
Eggs (Guide)
Clutch Size: 2
Color: pale cream or yellowish-buff to pale reddish-buff, variably freckled, mottled or blotched reddish- or chestnut-brown
Dimensions: 52 x 43 mm
Subspecies japonicus, neglectus and gurneyi (from Japan) are not generally accepted.
The following 6 subspecies are recognised:
orientalis Taczanowski, 1891 - Southern Siberia east to Amurland and Sakhalin, south to Manchuria, Japan and possibly Korea. Winters south to south-eastern Asia, Indonesia and Philippines.
ruficollis Lesson, R, 1830 - India and Sri Lanka east through Burma to south-central China (Yunnan).
philippensis Mayr, 1939 - Northern and eastern Philippines.
palawanensis Stresemann, 1940 - Palawan and Calauit (western Philippines).
torquatus Lesson, R, 1830 - Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and Borneo.
ptilorhynchus (Temminck, 1821) - Java.
Similar Species
Square-tailed Kite (Lophoictinia isura)
Lacks the extensive underwing and undertail barring. Legs whitish.
Pacific Baza (Aviceda subcristata)
Smaller. Lacks the extensive underwing barring. Legs greyish.
Red Goshawk (Erythrotriorchis radiatus)
More extensive, fine barring, on underwing. Very rufous underwing.
Compare Images
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
BirdLife International Species Factsheet