The Honey-buzzard is a rare breeding species in the UK but the population and trend are unclear. Rare Breeding Birds Panel data give a mean of 38 breeding pairs for the period 2015–2019 and suggest that there has been a slight increase in the 25 years to 2019 (Eaton et al. 2021). The breeding estimate is likely to be low as it is a difficult species to monitor. A population estimate of 100–150 pairs was suggested by Roberts & Law (2014) and a national survey has recently been undertaken which may give a more accurate population estimate once the data have been analysed. The Bird Atlas data suggest the number of occupied squares may have increased since 1988–91, but this is uncertain as this may be due to improved levels of detection and reporting rather than a genuine increase (Balmer et al. 2013).

Honey Buzzards are localised summer visitor, mostly arriving from May onwards, with a pulse of migrants in September in some years.

Weekly pattern of occurrence

The graph shows when the species is present in the UK, with taller bars indicating a higher likelihood of encountering the species in appropriate regions and habitats.