Oriental Hobby

Falco severus

Species Index

Blogosphere

6 March 2014

Possible regional races (polytypic)

Historical notes on Oriental Hobby, Falco severus

Habits. Like all other Hobbies these are birds of well-wooded country, but they never appear to penetrate deep woods and prefer scattered copses or single trees. They feed on insects, the larger Coleoptera, small birds and bats, some individuals confining themselves almost entirely to the last-named. These they catch by a steady pursuit and not by the wild dash and stoop by which small birds are captured. All those I saw taken were grabbed in the air and then carried off to a tree to be eaten. Every pair of Hobbies have their own hunting-ground, which they guard most jealously from others of their own species yet share in amity with Peregrines and other larger Raptores. I have seen remains of Barbets, Bulbuls, Bustard-Quail and other birds, lizards, mice, rats, etc. in or under their nests. Their cry is a loud squealing note and when enraged they repeat this cry continuously until the intruder retires. Like all Hobbies they are very crepuscular in their habits and very seldom hunt during the hotter hours of the day, even when the young are hatched.