Crested Honey Buzzard

Crested Honey Buzzard (Pernis ptilorhynchus) is a large, variable Asian raptor with a small pigeon-like head, broad wings and a long tail crossed by strong dark bands. Body shape, bill structure, plumage pattern and voice provide the strongest field characters. Age, sex and season may alter its appearance, so identification should combine several features and careful direct field comparisons with similar species in the same habitat (Wikipedia, general species account).

It excavates the nests of bees and wasps for comb and larvae, also taking other small prey, and migrates between breeding areas including East Asia and wintering grounds farther south. Its movements and social behaviour vary through the year, with breeding birds generally more dispersed and non-breeding birds gathering where food is concentrated. The Korean vertebrate catalogue used for this guide records the species in South Korea (Wikipedia, general species account; Wildlife of Korea occurrence records).