The Honey Buzzard

The Honey Buzzard, a bird of prey is a type of bird species that is occasionally sighted in the Maltese Islands.

This bird feeds mostly on insects, but also small mammals and small birds. It soars on flat wings, and the sexes are quite easily identified by the colour of their plumage. The Honey Buzzard travels over long distances when migrating, and hence it uses magnetic orientation and visual memory of landscapes to navigate. It also prefers to soar on thermals, rising air over land, hence avoiding large expanses of water surfaces.

The Honey Buzzard, similar to other migrating birds, travels from its European breeding grounds to its African wintering ground in autumn, returning back to the breeding grounds in the springtime. The Maltese Islands are not a major stop-over point, but several species can be sighted, especially at Clapham Junction site overlooking Buskett Gardens, one of the landmarks of The Cliffs Trail Map produced by The Cliffs Interpretation Centre.

Education is recognised as an ideal way forward to protect and conserve biodiversity. The Cliffs Interpretation Centre had hosted the first seminar to local hunters by an ornithologist, with the aim of such seminar to enhance hunters’ knowledge on birds and their behaviour by taking photographs.