Trail cameras reveal the lives of elusive honey buzzards

Through a combination of education, engagement and conservation work, Raptor Aid are at the forefront of bird of prey conservation, and we're always fascinated to learn of their experiences in the field! Raptor Aid's conservation work includes nest monitoring with trail cameras, which reveals important information to support bird of prey conservation.

In this Q&A, Raptor Aid founder Jimmi Hill shares insights from monitoring elusive honey buzzards on their nest with trail cameras in Wales. Unlike common buzzards, which are a widespread, resident species in the UK year-round, honey buzzards migrate to the UK to breed in summertime and spend winters in Africa.

RSPB reports there are just 41 breeding pairs of honey buzzards in the UK, so simply finding a nest is an impressive feat. The next challenge comes with installing a trail camera that will work effectively through the summer months and gather important information while they are raising their young. Over to Jimmi to share his experiences from the treetops…

What are your aims with monitoring honey buzzard nests?

A team of researchers have been monitoring this incredibly elusive species in several areas of the UK for many years. A large part of that work has involved locating nests and recording breeding success and outcomes through nest records and ringing, finding a honey buzzard nest is no easy feat and so each one provides a fantastic snapshot of this species' life cycle. Part of the research involves fitting young birds with unique colour rings and then fitting nests with a video camera(s) to see if birds returned to the UK and entered the breeding population. This also provides other information such as dispersal, survival rates and nest fidelity.

What did you learn this year?

2023 saw the first time one of our camera traps provided by NatureSpy would be tested for recording an active honey buzzard nest. We have experience with camera traps on peregrine falcon and goshawk nests, but honey buzzards often nest high up in enclosed deciduous trees with nests tucked into unions on branches. The key is getting the camera in a position to work, but not disturb the birds.

Did the camera reveal anything you didn’t expect?

The single nest we managed to set up this year didn’t have a colour-ringed adult unfortunately, but the camera worked well and we saw some great interactions and prey being brought into the two chicks.

What was it like setting up a camera on the nest? Any challenges?

The distance to the nest is important for function but more importantly the welfare of the birds. Experience with video cameras means we know the birds will accept them but the position and distance of the camera trap is also important to enable us to read the colour ring.

What camera settings did you choose and why?

We decided to set the camera on still images for this particular nest to compare it against previous video camera footage. We also knew it would be quite a while before the camera was retrieved, so we wanted to maximise the memory card space. In future, we will move back to video footage and aim for 20-30-second clips so we can attempt to read any colour rings as the adult moves on to the nest.

What are the next steps for monitoring honey buzzards in the area?

The study will continue annually and is always exciting due to the migratory nature of honey buzzards. We never know which individual birds will return from Africa and Europe. The hope is to get at least 2 more camera traps onto active nests to see if they can pick up and read a colour-ringed bird.

Our thanks to Jimmi for sharing these fascinating insights from the field. Learn more about Raptor Aid’s innovative and vital work to conserve birds of prey on Project Pages.