Honey-Eagle: This Bird Crushes Beehives Every Day (7 photos)

Bumblebees, wasps, hornets, and bees can make up 80% of its diet! The only catch is that it doesn't eat adult, chitin-clad insects, but honey, larvae, and pupae hidden deep within the nest.





*sounds of panicked bees*

The honey buzzard is capable of breaching the defenses of any yellow-striped hornet nest, no matter whether they rely on numbers, hide underground, or are guarded by 500 select, finger-sized hornets.



If bees were filming Godzilla, the honey buzzard would be the starring character.





It simply tore out a chunk of a high-rise building to feed its chicks.

But here's the surprising part: the honey buzzard itself has no absolute defense against its own prey. Yes, its dense plumage clings perfectly to its body, forming a veritable scaly armor, but it's quite possible to get underneath it. Yes, the honey buzzard has a high resistance to bee venom components, but this resistance isn't absolute. A dozen stings and the honey buzzard will collapse, just like any of us would.



The "scaly" quality of the honey buzzard's feathers is especially noticeable on the neck and back of the head—the small feathers overlap, creating a powerful and effective barrier to bee stings.

The honey buzzard's strength lies not so much in the defense mechanisms it uses, but in its clever attack tactics. Its main advantage over the bees is speed and the element of surprise. To avoid losing them, it must carry out its attack in just a couple of minutes. And the honey buzzard succeeds. It swiftly swoops down on the bees' nest, tears it apart with its powerful claws and beak, greedily swallows the larvae, and retreats before most of the nest's air force can even realize what's happened.



Forward, the clock is ticking!

It's precisely this brazen, predatory foraging style that makes the honey buzzard so special. It's Europe's only natural barrier to the invasive Asian hornet. About 20 years ago, they broke free of their natural habitat and invaded Western Europe, where they found a veritable paradise. Local bees are unable to defend themselves against the hornets' fighting squads, and their hives are being ravaged one after another. Even the hardy, strong, but clumsy bears are succumbing to their nests. No one can stop them. No one, that is, except the honey buzzard.



This is a case of one man making no headway.

The honey buzzard's rapid attack capabilities and effective armor give it enough time to consume a significant portion of the nest's brood, destroy them, and escape unharmed. Some honey buzzard pairs are so skilled at this that they can destroy up to 60 Asian hornet nests in a single season! They are humanity's only allies in protecting European bees from complete destruction. For this alone, these birds deserve the endless respect of ecologists and beekeepers.



Asian hornet honeycomb in a honey buzzard nest. Our hero!