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European Honey Buzzards are medium-sized raptors. Their plumage is is dimorphic, i.e. males and females are slightly different (apart from the fact that the latter are larger than the former). Both sexes can also have various morphologies, ranging from pale to dark. Male have a grey head. The front, when perched, is predominantely off-white, with dark spots. The back is all greyish-brown, with a scaly pattern created by darker tips on the feathers. Their underwings have a prominent dark trailing edge and only the tips of the primaries are dark, with a broad area of off-white to grey separating it from the rest of the wing, which can range from a dark patch on the carpal joint surrounded by dark spots on the outer wing and an all-pale inner part to an all-dark inner wing surrounded by rows of dark spots. Females have a brownish-grey head and are on average darker than males. The dark trailing edge on their underwings is wider than those of males and they also have an extra row of dark spots on the underwings with much less light-grey areas in between, leading to less colour contrast. Both sexes have scaly feathers in the face for protection against stings of their prey. The irises are yellow, while the strongly downcurved bill is dark-grey. The legs and feet are yellow, with black talons. The morphology of juveniles resembles that of females. There are 3 different morphs. The darkest resembles most closely female morphology. In the others, the body and inner underwing are rufous or pale-grey. Up close, juveniles are most easily recognized by their yellow cere and dark irises.

The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org .

The global distribution of the European Honey Buzzard is available HERE .

European Honey Buzzards are a long-distance migratory species, which is unusual for raptors. Their overall breeding range extends from parts of western Europe via central and eastern Europe into central western Asia. Their winter range is all of Africa below the Sahara, except the Horn of Africa, the deserts of Namibia and most of South Africa (where they stay only in a coastal strip along the East and South coast). During their migration they can potentially be found anywhere in between breeding areas and winter quarters, except the Sahara and the central Arabian desert.

In Europe, European Honey Buzzards are summer breeding migrants. Their breeding range extends from north-western Iberia and most of France, north of the Alps into central and eastern Europe, north of the Danube. There is also a small breeding population in Wales/eastern England. They are not found on the western side of the Scandinavian mountain range and the northern boundary of their breeding range is near the base of the Kola peninsula. The southern boundary of the breeding range is roughly a line connecting the northern Alps with the northern border of Kazakhstan.

During the breeding season they have a preference for forests with clearings, small wetlands or fields with nearby tall trees.

J. Pires reports spotting European Honey Buzzards in the area of Mora, Evora, Portugal, in June 2015 and again in July 2018. Next, a European Honey Buzzard was seen along the Raia river, Mora, Evora, Portugal, in June 2022. Another was found at Cabranosa, Sagres, Algarve, Portugal, in October 2022.

G. Normand found a European Honey Buzzard near Saint Omer, between Lille and Boulogne-sur-Mer, Hauts-de-France, France, in June 2020.

A. Sarok spotted a European Honey Buzzard in Vojvodina, Serbia, in the timeframe 2010-2024.