Oriental honey-buzzard (Male): Pernis ptilorhyncus

Oriental honey-buzzard (Male)
Pernis ptilorhyncus

Oriental honey-buzzard (Male) with active nictitating membrane
Pernis ptilorhyncus

 

Ranthambore, this time around, was a pugmark better than my previous trip two weeks ago. Alright, make that many pugmarks – of mother and cubs instead. I didn’t spot a stripe and neither did mom, son, aunt and uncle, but we spotted a few birds, reptiles and mammals. In addition to the pugmarks of course. One of them was this bird:

Oriental honey-buzzard (Male):  Pernis ptilorhyncus

Synonyms: Crested honey-buzzard (English); Maduha (Sanskrit); Shahutela (Hindi); Tena gaddu (Telugu)

IUCN Status: Least Concern

The appearances are highly variable in the six subspecies identified.

Main Features:

1.      Long and broad tail.

2.    Narrow neck.

3.    Small head – usually grayish or grayish-brown.

4.    Small bill.

5.     Male has grey face – as in Plates 1 and 2 above – while females have browner face (Female– Link to an earlier post for comparison)

6.    Male has brown iris – see Plates 1 and 2 above. This bird has an active nictitating membrane (third eyelid, whitish) which offers additional protection to the eye.

7.     Females have yellow iris instead. (Female - Click link to compare)

8.    Male has two black tail bands and three dark underwing bands.

9.    Female has three dark tail bands and four dark underwing bands.

10.                        Has small crest or hindcrown (clearly visible in earlier post- Female) at back of head, the size of which is highly variable, and resembles that of local species of hawk-eagle. This form of mimicry is thought to be a survival tactic for the protection of the weaker honey-buzzards.

11.  Soars with flat wings. Silhouette shows a shallow ‘w’ shape.

12.Back is dark brown to grayish-brown.

13.Underparts and coverts range from dark brown through rufous to white. May be unmarked, streaked or barred.

14.Lacks dark carpal patch on underwings.

15. The six subspecies of this bird are divided into two main groups – a migrating northern population with one subspecies – P.p.orientalis, and a sedentary southern one containing five subspecies, of which, P.p.ruficollis is found here and has a more pronounced crest/hindcrown than the migrant orientalis subspecies. (The Female Oriental honey-buzzard in my earlier post belongs to ruficollis subspecies)

16.Typically have an undulating, sine-wave-like flight pattern.

17. Have short bare tarsi, relatively straight claws, adapted to digging and walking.

What do they eat?

Take a guess! Generally prefer honey-combs along with larvae, pupae and bees or wasps or hornets inside them, but they are not averse to other elements of a predatory bird’s diet.

Scaly feathers around eye and head protect from stings of bees, hornets and wasps it preys on.

Nests high up in trees. Usually made of sticks, twigs and leaves.

 

Photographed at Ranthambore National Park, Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan, India on 19.10.2014

along with Mom, Sharang, Aunt Ramani and Uncle Achyut Ramaiah.

Camera used: Nikon D5100 DSLR with Tamron 150-600mm Lens.

 

References:

1. Richard Grimmett, Carol Inskipp, Tim Inskipp (2011). Birds of the Indian Subcontinent (Second Edition). ISBN: 978-0-19-807722-0.
2. K.N.Dave (2005). Birds In Sanskrit Literature (Revised Edition). ISBN:81-208-1842-3.
3. Indian bird names - BNHS-ENVIS 
4. ARKive.org