Second Honey buzzard poised to cross the Sahara

Honey buzzard fitted with satellite tag. Credit Tony Cross/Steve Roberts

A second honey buzzard from Wales has now reached Africa on her migration south, and is poised to tackle crossing the inhospitable Sahara Desert.

September 2008. The bird, a female from a breeding pair in North Wales has been fitted with a satellite tag by researchers from Ecology Matters as part of a research programme into this rare species. A second bird, a male from South Wales, has also been tagged and is in Guinea in West Africa - probably in his wintering quarters.

9 days from Wales to Guinea
The male left first and by 2 September had reached the Straits of Gibraltar. On that day the female had just started her migration and was in Gloucestershire. By 11th September the male had reached forests of Guinea, near the River Niger, while the female was in France. The female crossed into Africa over the Straits of Gibraltar on the 21st September.

564 kilometres in a day
The birds try and avoid hostile habitat such as the Sea and desert areas. Both birds crossed the Channel near its narrowest point, and the Mediterranean likewise at the Straits of Gibraltar. There is no way round the Sahara for them though. The male did not hang around during his crossing - he covered 370 kilometres on his first day over the desert on the 5th September, a massive 564 kilometres on the 6th and a further 341 kilometres on the 7th. Once across he slowed down and took life a little easier, presumably feeding up as he went.

Although superficially resembling the common buzzard, Honey Buzzards are in fact more closely related to kites. They are a secretive and elusive bird which spends a lot of time in the tree canopy of their forest habitat.

The satellite tags are solar powered, and are designed to last for up to 5 years. Ecology Matters hope to follow the birds over the winter and back to Wales next spring, where the tracking will allow research into its hunting range and habitat requirements.

Up to date information on the bird's location and details of the distances and migration route covered daily is available at:
www.ecologymatters.co.uk/honey_buzzard.shtml