FIRST NORTH AMERICAN RECORD OF THE ORIENTAL HONEY-BUZZARD (PERNIS PTILORHYNCHUS)

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Published: 2026-02-02
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21199/WB57.1.7
Keywords:
Oriental Honey-buzzard, Pernis ptilorhynchus, avian vagrancy, Aleutian Islands, East Asian–Australasian Flyway, raptor identification, drift migration, Shemya Island

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ZACHARY M. POHLEN
United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Division of Migratory Birds
JAMES A. JOHNSON
United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Division of Migratory Birds
R. BRADLEY BENTER
United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Marine Mammals Management
JOEL HELM
United States Air Force, 611th Civil Engineering Squadron

Abstract

On 27 May 2024, Pohlen and Benter observed an adult female Oriental Honey-buzzard (Pernis ptilorhynchus) at Eareckson Air Station, Shemya Island, Aleutian Islands, Alaska—a first record for North America. The presence of six prominent primaries, cinnamon underside, and absence of dark carpal patches are diagnostic of this species and exclude the European Honey-buzzard (P. apivorus), a similar-looking congener unknown in North America.

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Vol. 57 No. 1 (2026)

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