Honey Buzzard Densities in Britain in 2001

Honey Buzzard Densities in Britain in 2001

References:

Roberts, S J, & Lewis, J M S, (2003), Observation of Honey-buzzard Breeding Density in Britain, British Birds 96(1) p.37-39.

Kostrzewa, A, (1998), Honey Buzzard, in: BWP Update, 2(2) p.107-120.

Introduction:

Roberts & Lewis (2003) introduce and discuss some densities for breeding Honey Buzzards found in three areas of Britain in 2001. Here we also add results for a further area (D) -- Northumberland -- in the same year.

Densities in 2001:

Region	Habitat	Area (ha)	Population (pairs)	Density (pairs/1,000 ha)	Nearest neighbour distance mean in km (min-max)
A (Wales)	Upland conifer	3,500	4	1.14	2.4 (1.75-3.0)
B (New Forest)	Lowland mixed wood	24,000	7-8	0.31	5.8 (4.0-11.0)
C (Scotland)			5		2.7 (2.2-3.6)
D (North-umberland)	Upland/ lowland mixed wood	16,600	9	0.54	7.4 (3.2-10.4)

Notes from Roberts & Lewis (2003):

The Scottish population could be as high as 30-50 pairs.
Past feelings on densities in Britain of Honey Buzzards were that home ranges were much larger and density much lower (e.g. BWP).
Hostility to conspecifics occurs at up to 1.5km from the nest. Even the closest near neighbours recorded above are above this figure.
The British population is likely to be in the low hundreds of pairs and expanding.

Other studies noted:

In Germany nearest neighbour distances of 3.0km have been found (Kostrzewa, 1998).

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