Eurasian Hobby (Falco subbuteo)

Identification

The Eurasian Hobby is a small, elegant, and slender raptor, whose silhouette in flight resembles that of a large swift.

• Adult Plumage: The back and upperwings are dark slate-grey. The underparts are whitish or buff, intensely streaked with black. The throat, chin, and cheeks are white, contrasting sharply with a dark cap and a distinct black "moustache" below the eye. The 'trousers' (feathers on thighs and undertail coverts) are a characteristic bright rufous.
• Head: Almost entirely black with a dark crown and nape. The cheeks are white with prominent broad black moustaches.
• Eyes: Dark brown, with a narrow yellow eye-ring.
• Beak: Short, strong, and hooked, bluish with a yellow cere in adults.
• Legs: Yellow or orange-yellow, ending in powerful, dark talons.
• Juvenile: Juveniles are browner on the upperparts, with pale feather edges giving a scaled effect. Their underparts are pale buff, and the rufous 'trousers' are less pronounced or absent.
• Silhouette and Flight: In flight, its wings are long, narrow, and pointed, scythe-shaped, ideal for rapid flight and breathtaking pursuits. Its tail is relatively short.

Scientific Dimensions and Records (Eurasian Hobby)

These figures highlight the remarkable agility of the Eurasian Hobby and its capacity for high speeds, though less extreme than those of the Peregrine Falcon.

Song and Calls

The Eurasian Hobby is generally a discreet bird outside the breeding season. However, it becomes more vocal near the nest or in the presence of intruders.

Its calls can include:

• Alarm and Contact Calls: It emits rapid series of high-pitched calls, often transcribed as "kew-kew-kew-kew..." or "kek-kek-kek." During nesting, it may emit slower, softer series, "tyew tyew tyew tyew...".
• Hunting Calls: A short, harsh cry may be emitted while hunting.
• Calls of Young: Young Hobbies and fledglings demanding food can utter noisy and insistent cries near the nest.

Habitat and Distribution of Eurasian Hobby

The Eurasian Hobby has a wide distribution range, breeding in Europe and Asia, and wintering in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia. It is present in most regions of France, except for the far north of Brittany, a large part of Île-de-France, and the highest areas of the Alps and Pyrenees.

It is mainly found in:

• Open and semi-open areas: grasslands, heathlands, marshes, ponds, cultivated areas with groves, and forest edges.
• Woodland edges and groves: It particularly appreciates riverbanks and pond edges, where it can find old crow nests in tall trees to settle.
• Open forests and riparian forests: It frequents forests with large clearings and riparian forests (forests bordering watercourses).

European populations are migratory and leave their breeding grounds from August to October to winter in tropical Africa, returning in April-May.

Distribution Map

Diet

The Eurasian Hobby is a very skillful carnivorous predator, specializing in aerial hunting. Its diet primarily consists of insects and small birds.

It mainly feeds on:

• Insects: This is an important part of its diet, especially large insects such as dragonflies, cockchafers, and beetles, which it catches and consumes in flight. It can hunt insects until dusk.
• Birds: It captures a wide variety of small birds in mid-flight, such as swallows, swifts, larks, starlings, sparrows, finches, and blackbirds. It is capable of dismembering its prey in flight.
• Other occasional prey: More rarely, it may catch small mammals (like bats at dusk, rats, voles) or lizards, but these are not its preferred prey.

The Eurasian Hobby often hunts by surprise, swooping down on its prey from a hidden position behind a tree or building.

Reproduction

The Eurasian Hobby breeds in isolated pairs and reaches sexual maturity around two years of age.

• Nest: Like other falcons, it does not build its own nest. It typically uses old nests of corvids (crows, magpies) or other raptors, often located in tall trees at the edge of a forest or near wetlands. It may modify the interior of the chosen nest.
• Courtship Display: The breeding season begins with spectacular aerial displays, with chases, breathtaking dives, and ascents, sometimes accompanied by vocalizations. Mating occurs from January to March, and pairs establish territories from late April to May.
• Eggs: The female typically lays 2 to 4 eggs (most often 3) that are white-beige or dark brown in color, spotted. Laying occurs between late May and early June. Incubation lasts approximately 28 days and is primarily performed by the female, with the male bringing prey.
• Raising the Young: Chicks hatch two days apart. They are covered in white down and are fed by both parents. The female remains at the nest for about 15 days to protect the young. The young take their first flight approximately 28 to 34 days after hatching, but remain dependent on adults for food and learning to hunt for 4 to 9 weeks.

Conservation Status

The Eurasian Hobby is classified as "Least Concern" (LC) by the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) globally (last assessed in 2018). It is a species with a wide distribution range and populations considered quite stable or moderately increasing after declines in the 20th century.

However, local and past threats have affected and continue to affect certain populations:

• Pesticides: The use of organochlorine pesticides in the past, such as DDT, led to significant declines due to habitat modifications and their indirect effects on reproduction.
• Habitat Loss and Degradation: The loss of hunting habitats (open environments rich in insects and small birds) and nesting sites (old corvid nests in trees) due to intensive agriculture or logging of old forests can cause local problems.
• Human Disturbances: Disturbances at nesting sites can lead to breeding failure.
• Hunting: Historically hunted in certain regions, notably Malta.
• Collisions: Wind turbines and other infrastructure can be a collision threat.

In France, the Eurasian Hobby has benefited from full protection since 1981, prohibiting its destruction, capture, destruction of its nests and eggs, as well as disturbance of its environment. These conservation measures, coupled with environmental awareness, have contributed to the species' recovery.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

References

1. Wikipedia - Eurasian Hobby