Honey-buzzard in Cumbria, North Lancashire and Yorkshire Dales

County Avifauna for Cumbria

Source: The Breeding Birds of Cumbria, A Tetrad Atlas 1997-2001, Stott, M, Callion, J, Kinley, I, Raven, C, & Roberts, J, (edd), Cumbria Bird Club (2002).

Account: Honey-buzzard p.90-91 by Alistair Crowle.

Summary: current county population estimate (all sources) is 2-4 pairs.

Details:

• Confirmed breeding 1 tetrad, probable breeding 0, possible breeding 7.

• Two ten-km squares were occupied.

• Colonisation was confirmed in 1997 when adults and a juvenile were at one site.

• Up to three pairs have been seen in this area since.

• A single bird in the same area in 1985 raises the possibility of earlier breeding.

• It is thought that Cumbria is as well suited to the Honey-buzzard as any other part of the country.

• It may well be that new sites will be discovered in the future.

Comments (NR):

• A very welcome open account which confirms the increasing trend for this species in northern England.

• The difficulty in proving this species initially may owe something to identification problems. Finding and identifying Honey-buzzards in their breeding areas after their initial display period is over is far from easy.

• The rather bald statement that nesting was never confirmed at Lowther in the 1780s needs some qualification. In the VCH for Cumberland of 1901 (I p.195) it is stated

 This latter circumstance recalls the fact that Dr. Heysham was informed that the honey-buzzard nested at Lowther, whence he received a female shot in June, 1782. Mr. James Wilson informed Macgillivray about 1835, that in his earlier days he had seen at least three honey-buzzards which had been killed by the Lowther keepers and were preserved at Penrith.

A Birdwatch article on Where to Watch Birds in Cumbria (May 2020) gave Honey-buzzard as a key species, breeding in south Cumbria and can be encountered, with luck, around Haverthwaite (caption to picture of a female Honey-buzzard) or have been breeding for several years in south Cumbria, and are worth looking for near Haverthwaite SD336857 (text).

Observations by NR

The table below summarises NR's observations from 2007-2019, indicating 9 breeding sites with 3 around Morecambe Bay, 2 in the Keswick area and 4 in the Windermere area. For the Cumbria/Northumberland border, not shown, there is a breeding site at Gilsland and an occasional breeding and regular migration site at Gilderdale Bridge. A map of NR's sightings of Honey-buzzard in north west England, including Cumbria, Lancashire and West Yorkshire from 2007-2019, is available here. Full records are available for Cumbria, including the border area with Northumberland, in 2007-2019 on this sheet. The north Lancashire record is on this sheet and the Yorkshire Dales records on this sheet for Yorkshire, as a whole (first 2 rows). In October migrant juveniles, presumably from Scotland, appear to move S through Windermere into the Morecambe Bay area, and along the ridges on the W extreme of the Pennines in the Settle area, taking advantage of orographic lift.

Area	Year	Month	Number birds	Number sites
Keswick	2007	August	1	1
Windermere	2008	June	3	1
Carlisle	2009	October	1 (migrant juvenile moving S)	1
Windermere	2010	July	2	2
Morecambe	2010	July	2	2
Keswick	2012	July	1	1
Windermere	2012	July	2	1
Windermere	2016	October	4 (migrant juvenile moving S/SE)	2
Morecambe	2017	October	1 (migrant juvenile moving S)	1
Morecambe	2019	June	1	1
Settle	2019	September/ October	4 (migrant juvenile moving S)	2
Total -- distinct sites - breeding			12	9

Area means roughly the land in a 40km radius of the named town or city.

These are very much opportunistic sightings in visits lasting up to one week at a time. It would be interesting to see more comprehensive figures if these are available.

To my eye much of the woodland in the South Lakes and around Morecambe Bay is very suitable, almost ideal, for breeding Honey-buzzard. The northern lakes are bleaker but there is still much suitable habitat around Keswick. A population of over 30 pairs in the area as a whole would not be surprising.

Multimedia for Honey-buzzard in Cumbria/North Lancashire/Yorkshire Dales:

8 July 2010, adult female Honey-buzzard in territory at site near Silverdale, Lancs, hanging in breeze (video reference 2010-658).

Video 1 shows expected plumage features for a female Honey-buzzard overhead, with derived stills 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11. Stills 1-6 show the brown head, grey bill and cere, all-dark fingers and long tail (equal to wing-width) with subterminal and inner band. Still 7 shows the long neck and small head. Stills 7-11 show the sparse broad barring (2-3 bars) along the inner primaries near the gap in the wing. The bird is not in moult but is missing 2 inner primaries on its left wing, inner secondaries on both wings and possibly a tail feather. In addition the tip to P8 on its right wing is damaged. It's very interesting how missing feathers are aiding the identification through letting light onto the underside of the wing. Lighting conditions at Silverdale were probably better anyway than in SW Northumberland with limestone rocks and clear conditions that you get more often on the coast. Wonder how many Honey-buzzard breeding pairs are known in Lancashire and how many observers on the nearby Peregrine watch have identified this bird!

Nick Rossiter 2002-2021

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