HAS THE TIME COME TO RENAME THE EUROPEAN HONEY BUZZARD?

European honey buzzard - this splendid bird was photographed in Germany by Andreas Trepte (Wikimedia Commons)

SHOULD the European honey buzzard be renamed?

Yes, says leading UK behavioural ornithologist Prof Tim Birkhead.

It is now known that the species is far from being confined to Europe - it breeds across Asia and winters in Africa.

What is more it does not feed on honey. This  was once believed because of the birds' partiality to seeking out  larvae in the nests of wasps which were once confused with bees.

Because it is wrongly named on both counts, Prof Birkhead  has come up with an alternative - Willughby's buzzard.

He claims this would be appropriate because it was Francis Willughby - a pioneering Warwickshire ornithologist of the 17th Century who first identified it as a separate species from the common buzzard.

In his fascinating book, The Wonderful Mr Willughby - The First True Ornithologist (Bloomsbury, £10.99), he writes:

"Changing the common names of birds is not something one should do lightly, but in this case it seems entirely justified.

"The present name is wrong, and Willughby made an outstanding contribution to ornithology.

"He deserves to be remembered by a link to the bird he discovered.

"Let us celebrate Willughby's life and achievements by according him this additional twenty-first-century accolade: Willughby's buzzard."

* Prof Birkhead will be guest speaker at the annual meeting of Lincolnshire Bird Club to be held at The Golf hotel in Woodhall Spa at 7.30pm on Tuesday March 24. His subject will be: Bird Sense - What's It Like to be A Bird.  Admission is free