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Eurasian Hobby

Eurasian Hobby

Falco subbuteo

Identify the Eurasian Hobby by sound or photo and log your sightings with Birdpass.

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The Eurasian Hobby is a small, slim falcon of the Palearctic, famous for its swift-like silhouette and agile flight. It catches prey on the wing, from dragonflies to swallows and swifts. Adults are slate-grey above with a dark cap and rufous “trousers”. The widespread nominate form is a long-distance migrant that winters in Africa, while a smaller southern Asian form is largely resident.

Did you know?

  • The tabletop football game Subbuteo is named after the Hobby's scientific name.
  • It is agile enough to catch swallows and even swifts in flight.

Voice

Flight call
Alarm call

About the species

Identification

Dark grey above with a white throat and a distinct dark helmet; pale underparts with dark streaks and rufous “trousers”. Long, narrow wings and a fairly short tail give a slim, fast, swift-like silhouette. Young birds are browner. Compared with Kestrel it has longer, narrower wings and does not hover; compared with Peregrine it is smaller and slimmer.

Family

Falconidae

Size

Medium (thrush)

Colours

grey, white, black, orange

About the habitat

Open landscapes with nearby trees – woodland edges, river valleys, wetlands, heaths, bogs, taiga and farmland with scattered woods. It hunts over marshes, lakeshores and meadows.

Diet

Mainly large flying insects such as dragonflies, beetles and moths, often eaten in flight; also small birds such as swallows, swifts and sparrows, and occasionally bats.

Behaviour

Extremely fast and agile, it hunts on the wing, especially at dawn and dusk. Adults often pass food in mid-air during courtship and chick-rearing. It nests in old crow nests rather than building its own, laying 2–3 eggs, incubated for about 28 days mostly by the female. Migrants may travel in small groups.

Sources

Photo: Shantanu Kuveskar, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eurasian hobby (Falco subbuteo) by Shantanu Kuveskar.jpg

Sound: Sonothèque ADVL, XC918541, CC0 1.0 https://xeno-canto.org/918541

Sound: Tim Vochten, XC947277, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://xeno-canto.org/947277

Text: Wikipedia (English) + FinBIF species descriptions, CC BY-SA 4.0; FinBIF: CC BY 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_hobby

See also