Oriental Honey-buzzard

About 57–60 cm (22–24 in) in size, the crested honey buzzard is a fairly large raptor. The bird weighs 750 to 1,490 g (1.65 to 3.28 lb). The head lacks a strong superciliary ridge, giving it a facial appearance very unlike a raptor. It appears long-necked with a small head resembling that of a pigeon. It has a long tail and a short head crest. It is brown above, but not as dark as the European honey buzzard, and paler below. A dark throat stripe is present. Unusually for a large bird of prey, the sexes can be distinguished. The male has a blue-grey head with brown iris, while the female's head is brown and the iris is yellow. She is slightly larger and darker than the male. The male has two black bands in the tail and three black under wing bands, while the female has three black tail bands and four narrower black under wing bands. The juvenile has extensive black primary tips with narrower underwing bands. It has a yellow cere at the base of the bill, and a dark iris. The colouration and the tail pattern of the species are highly variable.

In flight, it is likely to be mistaken at a distance for the short-toed snake-eagle. However, it can be distinguished by its slimmer head and longer neck. It is usually seen soaring singly or in pairs, or it may be perched on a tree top. It is quiet even while nesting, sometimes uttering a single high-pitched screaming whistle. …

The crested honey buzzard is a summer migrant to Siberia and Korea, Japan, wintering in tropical Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. It leaves Siberia in late August and returns in May. The summer sojourn in Japan is April–May to mid-September. Elsewhere, it is more or less resident. Crested honey buzzards that migrate from breeding areas in Japan to wintering areas in Southeast Asia fly over the East China Sea. This 700 km (430 mi) nonstop flight over water is possible because during autumn, winds over the sea blow in the same direction as the birds' direction of flight (i.e. wind support). In Europe, the crested honey buzzard has been documented in Italy in 2011, in Cyprus in 2012, at the Strait of Messina, and in Lesvos, Greece in 2018.

It has been recorded on the Alaskan island of Shemya. This record is the first known occurrence of this species in North America, and the individual photographed represents the subspecies P. p. orientalis. The crested honey buzzard prefers well-forested lowland and hilly areas that are broken by open glades. In South and Southeast Asia it is sometimes found in small groves near villages. It is found from sea level to 1,500 m (4,900 ft), occasionally up to 1,800 m (5,900 ft). During migrations it goes above 3,000 m (9,800 ft).

The crested honey buzzard is a specialist feeder, living mainly on the larvae of social bees and wasps, and eating bits of comb and honey. It takes other small insect prey such as cicadas. It occasionally eats small birds, reptiles and frogs like other raptors.

In the island of Java in Indonesia, people living in or near forested areas suffer from attacks, sometimes fatal, by giant honey bees. The local people and honey collectors blame the honey buzzards for these attacks. This raptor attacks the nests of the giant honey bee. As it flies away with a piece of the honeycomb in its claws, it is pursued by angry bees. The local belief is that as its escape strategy the honey buzzard flies close to humans in the vicinity to transfer the attack of the angry bees to the humans. However, in a study of the hunting behaviour of honey buzzards conducted between 2003 and 2019, no evidence of this strategy was observed by the researchers. They surmised that a decline in the habitat due to human activity has increased the conflict between bees and humans.