The species does appear to have been rare nationally in the early 19th century with Selby (1831) noting it as ‘one of the rarest and most elegant of the British Falconidae’. However, there was then a significant recovery perhaps made obvious by more effective collecting techniques. Hancock (1874) noted that ‘it is certainly now, according to my experience, one of the commonest larger birds of prey. Since 1831, and up to 1868, twenty five specimens have come under my notice, all taken within the two counties [Northumberland and Durham].’ Besides commenting on the one proven instance of breeding in 1841 at Newbiggin, near Hexham, Hancock also makes the interesting observation that ‘Young birds very much predominate and usually two or three are taken about the same time and near the same place, as if they belonged to the same brood.’ Bolam (1912) increased the tally in Northumberland to ‘about 40’. In the Historical Atlas, Holloway (1996) highlights north-east England as still holding a residual population of this species from 1875-1900. It appears that Northumberland has always held some special appeal for the Honey Buzzard.

Unfortunately neither Hancock (1874) nor Bolam (1912) itemize the individual records of Honey Buzzards in Northumberland. It is the aim of the present work to compile all records from all available sources to provide an information source for future reference and to analyse the records obtained with respect to a number of parameters. In the compilation, besides the standard ornithological texts, two Hancock manuscripts have been searched as indicated in the sources. The result of the compilation is shown in Tables 1 and 2, the first table showing records from c1825-1909 and the second from 1910-1996. Only records fully accepted by the contemporary authorities have been included. Table 1 contains 35 records compared to the ‘about 40’ cited by Bolam (1912) for the same time period. It would therefore appear that nearly all the 19th century records have been found in the present study.

Figure 1 shows the numbers of Honey Buzzards found by decade from the 1820s to the 1990s. The graph indicates that relatively high numbers (0.95 birds/annum) were present in the 1830s and 1840s and the lowest numbers (0.15 birds/annum) occurred from the 1910s to the 1960s.

Figure 1. Honey-Buzzard: Total Counts by Decades 1825-1996.

Figure 2 shows the distribution of records by time of the year. Each month is divided into thirds covering its early, middle and late parts. The pattern shown is as expected for the species with a protracted arrival period during May and June and young fledging from late August through to mid-September with some lingering into October and even November and December. The pattern shown is similar to that found in a recent analysis of records from 1986-95 (Fraser et al 1997) which showed peak numbers in May and September.

Table 1. Historical Records of Honey Buzzards from 1825-1909.

Table 2: Historical Records of Honey Buzzards from 1910-1996.

Sources in Tables 1 and 2: B1 - Bolam, Birds of Northumberland and the Eastern Borders 1912; B2 - Bolam, Catalogue of Birds of Northumberland, TNHSN 1932; BIN - Annual Ornithological Report 1970-1996, Birds in Northumbria; E - Evans, Vertebrate Fauna of Scotland, the Tweed area 1911; F - Fox, Notice of Some Rare Birds, TNHSN 1838; H1 - Hancock, Catalogue of Birds of Northumberland, TNHSN 1874; H2 - Hancock, NEWHM H377, MS Journal of the Birds of Northumberland and Durham 1874; H3 - Hancock, NEWHM H376, MS Collection of British Bird Labels (printed - Howse, Index-Catalogue of the Birds in the Hancock Collection, TNHSN 1900); HBN - Hist. Berwickshire Naturalists' Club; L - Liddell, Notice of Falco Apivorus, TNHSN 1831; M - Card Records in Hancock Museum; N - Annual Ornithological Report 1939-1951, Naturalist; NHS - Annual Ornithological Report 1952-1969, TNHSN; S1 - Selby, Illustrations British Ornithology 1833; S2 - Selby, Catalogue of Birds of Northumberland, TNHSN 1831; S3 - Selby, Report on Ornithology of Berwickshire, HBN 1837; S4 - Selby, Account of Two Rare British Birds, TNHSN 1838; TNHSN Trans. Nat. Hist. Soc. Northumb.

Figure 2. Honey-Buzzard: Totals 1825-1996 by Time of Year. M1=May 1-10, M2=May 11-20, M3=May 21-31; J1=June 1-10; J2=June 11-20; through July, August, September and October to N1=November 1-10.

Ages have been published for 22 birds recorded in autumn of which 17 were juveniles and five adults. For 14 birds obtained in autumn from 1829-1849, nine were juveniles indicating a not insignificant breeding population at this time. Ages are given in the tables only when they can reliably be determined from the information available. Presumably nearly all spring records are in fact of adults.

From 1825-1910, 22 of the 35 individuals recorded were shot, four trapped and a surprisingly high number of six involved in disasters at sea including drowning or colliding with boats. After 1910, 20 of the 23 individuals were involved in sight records and only two were shot. Out of the 22 birds which were assigned a colour phase, 14 were thought to be dark, seven pale and one intermediate. Nine of these 14 dark birds were juveniles, two adults and three unassigned. Only 13 individuals have been sexed: eight were males and five females. Before 1950 dissection of specimens or close observation indicated food preferences for nine individuals. In autumn seven ate wasps and one ate bumble bees and in June another ate insects in general. The summer diet is likely to be less specialised than the autumn one.

Geographically there is a bias in the early records towards the north-east of the county where a number of leading ornithologists were based. There is, however, also an interesting series of records in autumn in the Tyneside area in the 1830s, 1944, 1953 and 1996. It is possible that this series results from birds dispersing from breeding areas on the Tyne and its tributaries. Since 1992 there have been a number of unsubstantiated reports from valleys in the south-west of the county and it is possible that the species is re-establishing itself here as a rare breeder. Nationally, records of Honey Buzzards on migration increased strongly from 1986-89 to 1990-95 with 150 alone recorded in 1995 (Fraser et a1 1997). The reason is likely to be the reduction of persecution of large raptors in eastern Britain which has most obviously benefited the Common Buzzard but may also have enabled the Honey Buzzard to increase its range. The Honey Buzzard dislikes a maritime climate and is now being given the chance to recolonise drier areas of Britain from which it has been largely excluded for some 150 years

Acknowledgements: I am very grateful to Hugh and Stella Chambers and June Holmes of the Natural History Society of Northumbria for their help in locating reference and archive material.

Bolam, G. (1912), Birds of Northumberland and the Eastern Borders, Henry Hunter Blair, Alnwick.

Fraser, P.A., Lansdown, P.G. & Rogers, M.J. (1997). Report on Scarce Migrant Birds in Britain in 1995, British Birds 90(10) 413-439.

Hancock, J. (1874) A Catalogue of the Birds of Northumberland and Durham, Nat. Hist. Trans. Newcastle 6,1.

Heysham, J. (1794-97). Catalogue of Cumberland Animals, in: Hutchinson, W. The History of the County of Cumberland, F. Jollie, Carlisle I.

Holloway, S. (1996). The Historical Atlas of Breeding Birds in Britain and Ireland 1875-1900, Poyser, London.

Macpherson, H.A. (1901). Birds, in: Victoria History of the Counties of England, Cumberland, Archibald Constable, Westminster I 179-217.

Selby, P.J. (1831). A Catalogue of the Birds hitherto met with in the Counties of Northumberland and Durham, Trans. Nat. Hist. Soc. Northumb. 1: 244-295.

Wallis, J. (1769). The Natural History and Antiquities of Northumberland and of so much of the county of Durham as lies between the rivers Tyne and Tweed, commonly called north Bishoprick, W. and W. Strahan, London I.

Willughby, F. & Ray, J. (1678). The Ornithology of Francis Willughby, London.