African Hobby Falco cuvierii Scientific name definitions

26–31 cm (1 Ferguson-Lees, J., and D. A. Christie (2001). Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ); male 125–178 g, female 186–224 g; wingspan 60–73 cm (1 Ferguson-Lees, J., and D. A. Christie (2001). Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Small dark falcon , darkest on head, with relatively long, slender wings , rich chestnut underparts (and underwing-coverts) finely black-streaked on breast/flanks, black moustachial and rufous-buff cheeks and throat (1 Ferguson-Lees, J., and D. A. Christie (2001). Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Female larger by, on average, 7% and perhaps up to 25% in mass (1 Ferguson-Lees, J., and D. A. Christie (2001). Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Bare parts: eyes dark brown, yellow cere and orbital ring (greenish white in juvenile) and legs yellow (1 Ferguson-Lees, J., and D. A. Christie (2001). Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Juvenile has underparts more heavily streaked and browner upperparts edged with rufous on mantle and wing-coverts; moults direct to adult plumage, probably at end of first year (1 Ferguson-Lees, J., and D. A. Christie (2001). Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Migrant long-winged F. subbuteo has chestnut restricted to thighs and undertail-coverts; similarly built juvenile F. concolor lacks chestnut tones on underparts, while adult grey all over. Perhaps most significant confusion risk in E & SC Africa (even specimens have been misidentified) is with much rarer F. fasciinucha, but the present species is smaller and slimmer, with narrower and longer wings, and an obviously longer tail; usually is also uniformly darker above (almost blackish) and richer rufous below, but lacks obvious rufous nape patches of F. fasciinucha (1 Ferguson-Lees, J., and D. A. Christie (2001). Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ).

Senegambia E to Ethiopia and S, discontinuously, to NC Namibia, Zimbabwe, W Mozambique and adjacent NE South Africa.

Moist woodland and tree savanna, including palm savanna and forest edge, occasionally large clearings within forest, generally from sea-level up to 3000 m (1 Ferguson-Lees, J., and D. A. Christie (2001). Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ), but to 4100 m in Ethiopia (2 Ash, J. S., and J. Atkins (2009). Birds of Ethiopia and Eritrea: An Atlas of Distribution. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). In E Africa usually found in areas experiencing >1000 m of rainfall (3 Carswell, M., D. Pomeroy, J. Reynolds, and H. Tushabe (2005). The Bird Atlas of Uganda. British Ornithologists’ Club and British Ornithologists' Union, Oxford, UK. Close ). Locally breeds in towns, e.g. in Kampala, Uganda (1 Ferguson-Lees, J., and D. A. Christie (2001). Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ), where it is often associated with stands of eucalypts (3 Carswell, M., D. Pomeroy, J. Reynolds, and H. Tushabe (2005). The Bird Atlas of Uganda. British Ornithologists’ Club and British Ornithologists' Union, Oxford, UK. Close ).

Resident as pairs in many areas, but may be locally migratory or perhaps nomadic in response to changing food supplies (1 Ferguson-Lees, J., and D. A. Christie (2001). Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ) in parts of W Africa. A wet-season vagrant, sometimes breeding, to the periphery of its range in NE Kenya and S Africa (Natal and E Cape Province) (1 Ferguson-Lees, J., and D. A. Christie (2001). Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). No details of movements available.

Outside breeding season, mainly insects, especially termite alates, grasshoppers, locusts, beetles and cicadas (1 Ferguson-Lees, J., and D. A. Christie (2001). Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ); when breeding, mainly small birds, up to the size of doves, but mainly species such as waxbills, weavers and hirundines (1 Ferguson-Lees, J., and D. A. Christie (2001). Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Occasional records of amphibian and small mammalian prey (1 Ferguson-Lees, J., and D. A. Christie (2001). Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Most prey taken high in the air (and insects frequently consumed while airborne) (1 Ferguson-Lees, J., and D. A. Christie (2001). Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ) using fast and dexterous flight, either low above ground or 50–100 m above it (1 Ferguson-Lees, J., and D. A. Christie (2001). Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ), with high success (95% for insects, 72% for birds); up to 20–30 (1 Ferguson-Lees, J., and D. A. Christie (2001). Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ) individuals gathering at insect emergences. Roosts in tall trees and spends much of the day at rest there. Hunts mainly at dawn and dusk, and will also hunt during rain on emerging insects (4 Olsen, P. and Olsen, J. (1992). Does rain hamper hunting by breeding raptors? Emu. 92(3): 184-187. Close ).

Generally silent when not around nest, when gives rapid "kee-kee-kee...", which is used in both greeting and alarm, as well as a high-pitched screaming "keeeeee-ee" or "kiki-keee", perhaps in courtship (1 Ferguson-Lees, J., and D. A. Christie (2001). Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ).

Laying Dec–Apr in W and NE Africa; Dec–Jun in Uganda and W Kenya and Aug–Dec elsewhere in equatorial E Africa (1 Ferguson-Lees, J., and D. A. Christie (2001). Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ); Aug–Jan (1 Ferguson-Lees, J., and D. A. Christie (2001). Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ) in SE and S Africa. Some pairs remain together year-round; aerial displays during pre-breeding season apparently limited to mutual circling and pursuit-flights (1 Ferguson-Lees, J., and D. A. Christie (2001). Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Nests in tall trees , including Eucalyptus (Myrtaceae) in some areas, at height of up to 9–30 m (1 Ferguson-Lees, J., and D. A. Christie (2001). Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ), in old structure of crow, e.g. Pied Crow (Corvus albus) (3 Carswell, M., D. Pomeroy, J. Reynolds, and H. Tushabe (2005). The Bird Atlas of Uganda. British Ornithologists’ Club and British Ornithologists' Union, Oxford, UK. Close ) or other raptor, especially Milvus migrans and, in W Africa, Gypohierax angolensis (1 Ferguson-Lees, J., and D. A. Christie (2001). Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ) (in Borassus palm fronds) (5 Brown, L. H., E. K. Urban, and K. Newman (1982). The Birds of Africa. Volume 1. Academic Press, London, UK and New York, USA. Close ), or in epiphyte. Often evicts owners, and very defensive of nest area. Usually three cream-coloured eggs almost covered in red-brown markings (5 Brown, L. H., E. K. Urban, and K. Newman (1982). The Birds of Africa. Volume 1. Academic Press, London, UK and New York, USA. Close ) (1–4) (1 Ferguson-Lees, J., and D. A. Christie (2001). Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ), 36–40·9 mm × 29–31·8 mm, c. 20·5 g (5 Brown, L. H., E. K. Urban, and K. Newman (1982). The Birds of Africa. Volume 1. Academic Press, London, UK and New York, USA. Close ); incubation c. 30 days, by female alone, provisioned by male (5 Brown, L. H., E. K. Urban, and K. Newman (1982). The Birds of Africa. Volume 1. Academic Press, London, UK and New York, USA. Close ); chicks have first down cream, second down grey, provisioned mainly but not exclusively by male (5 Brown, L. H., E. K. Urban, and K. Newman (1982). The Birds of Africa. Volume 1. Academic Press, London, UK and New York, USA. Close ); fledging c. 30 days. Approximately 30% of eggs are predated, and in Ivory Coast only seven of 14 pairs bred, laying 20 eggs, of which 14 hatched and seven young fledged (5 Brown, L. H., E. K. Urban, and K. Newman (1982). The Birds of Africa. Volume 1. Academic Press, London, UK and New York, USA. Close ). Male feeds female during incubation or caches food near nest; later, female catches some insects herself in vicinity of nest.

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). CITES II. Widespread, but generally uncommon to rare, e.g. in NE Africa, and very scarce in SC Africa, where not even confirmed to occur in Malawi (6 Dowsett-Lemaire, F., and R. J. Dowsett (2006). The Birds of Malawi: An Atlas and Handbook. Tauraco Press & Aves, Liège, Belgium. Close ); common along forest savanna ecotone in parts of W Africa (e.g. 14 pairs within 27 km² in Ivory Coast) (1 Ferguson-Lees, J., and D. A. Christie (2001). Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ) and L Victoria basin of E Africa. Deforestation is a perceived threat, especially in W Africa (1 Ferguson-Lees, J., and D. A. Christie (2001). Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ), but common in several densely populated areas, even within cities provided there is a large crow population (1 Ferguson-Lees, J., and D. A. Christie (2001). Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Roadside counts of raptors in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger conducted in early 1970s and early 2000s revealed declines in abundance both outside protected areas, from 0·6 ± 0·0 individuals per 100 km to none, and within protected areas, from 1·1 ± 0·3 to 0·6 ± 0·1 individuals per 100 km (7 Thiollay, J.-M. (2006). Severe decline of large birds in the Northern Sahel of West Africa: a long-term assessment. Bird Conservation International. 16(4): 353–365. Close ). Territory of 160–200 ha, hunting range over 600 ha. Not known to be affected by pesticide use, but young sometimes taken from nests (8 Barnett, L.K. and Emms, C. (2001). New species and breeding records for The Gambia. Bull. Afr. Bird Club. 8(1): 44–45. Close ).