Source: The Breeding Birds of Cumbria, A Tetrad Atlas 1997-2001, Stott, M, Callion, J, Kinley, I, Raven, C, & Roberts, J, (edd), Cumbria Bird Club (2002).

Account: Honey Buzzard p.90-91 by Alistair Crowle.

Summary: current county population estimate (all sources) is 2-4 pairs.

• Confirmed breeding 1 tetrad, probable breeding 0, possible breeding 7.
• Two ten-km squares were occupied.
• Colonisation was confirmed in 1997 when adults and a juvenile were at one site.
• Up to three pairs have been seen in this area since.
• A single bird in the same area in 1985 raises the possibility of earlier breeding.
• It is thought that Cumbria is as well suited to the Honey Buzzard as any other part of the country.
• It may well be that new sites will be discovered in the future.

Comments (NR):

• A very welcome open account which confirms the increasing trend for this species in northern England.
• The difficulty in proving this species initially may owe something to identification problems. Finding and identifying Honey Buzzards in their breeding areas after their initial display period is over is far from easy.
• The rather bald statement that nesting was never confirmed at Lowther in the 1780s needs some qualification. In the VCH for Cumberland of 1901 (I p.195) it is stated