8. The Honey Buzzard

To watch a flock of 30 Honey-buzzards circling over your head in the gathering dusk at Buskett is unforgettable. Let's face it, the Honey-buzzard isn't your average dicky-bird: it's eagle material. Same bulk and broad wingspan, same hooked beak and beady glare, same slow majestic flight - it's all there, the unmistakable bird of prey! And if you want to see a Honey-buzzard (M; kuccarda), now is the best time to steal a glance at the sky for that lucky sighting. It's autumn migration, the time when millions of birds fly south to spend a balmy winter in Africa. It is sadly also the time when thousands of Honey-buzzards come to an abrupt and grisly end, thanks to trigger-happy clowns who see these birds as ego-boosting trophies to be killed and stuffed, rather than as pinnacles of evolution. Join BirdLife to help turn the tide against the massacre. Copyright to Birdlife Malta.