Rare sighting at Polokwane Game Reserve

Beth Coetzee, journalist at Letaba Herald

The European honey buzzard is a summer migrant to most of Europe and western Asia, wintering in tropical Africa. Therefore, they are uncommon summer visitors to Southern Africa and are still considered a “rare” bird sighting, despite the increase of records in recent years.

Polokwane resident, Johan van der Westhuizen, was fortunate to see the rare bird, “I only joined Birdlife Polokwane in January this year and as a novice, I had no idea which bird I had spotted. I am really blessed to have seen the European Honey Buzzard twice within a span of two months.”

Despite its English name, this species is more closely related to kites than to true buzzards in the Buteo genus.

It is a specialist feeder, living mainly on the larvae and nests of wasps.