Honey-buzzards and Hawfinches

Speaker: Mark Mallalieu (Trustee of the Sussex Wildlife Trust.)

The speaker has studied the woodland birds of the Weald area for many years, and picked out two of the most charismatic for this presentation.

When seen, the massive beak of Hawfinches makes them unmistakable, but they are not easy to see: partly because they have declined in the UK (down by about 75%) and also because they are shy. They are doing reasonably well in the New Forest but their status in the south-east England is unclear.

Their beaks are used for breaking the hard seeds (“stones”) of fruits (such as Wild Cherries and Yew berries) and the dry seeds of Field Maples and Hornbeams; in the summer they will also eat invertebrates. Hornbeam plantations were more common in the past, as it was a preferred wood for making charcoal for iron furnaces, and the decline of the bird may be linked to the decline of the acreage of this type of wood.

Hawfinch roosting and nesting sites are difficult to find, and Mark explained that surveying often involved being on-site at dawn to observe the dispersal of the birds from roosts, following which they become almost undetectable. Hence the members of the audience came to realise why they never saw these wonderful birds! It is hoped that a new programme of passive sound recording may yield rigorous data on their distribution and population size.

Honey Buzzards are also forest denizens and are present in the south of England from May to October. They are smaller than Common Buzzards but with a longer tail and larger wing area, and hold their wings more horizontally. Their main food in this country, despite their name, is larvae from wasp nests: they are protected from stings by dense feathers, scaly skin and narrow nostrils. It is estimated that there are 0.5 million globally, but we are at the limit of its range, and there were reckoned to be only 12 pairs in Sussex in 2021, rising to 20 pairs in 2025. Mark encouraged us to look out for them: Woolbeding is a good site.

The two sections of this talk were each excellent examples of autecology: single-species ecological studies. These are crucial for the understanding of how to conserve these special birds.