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The Eurasian hobby (''Falco subbuteo'') or just hobby, is a small, slim
falcon Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Falcons are widely distributed on all continents of the world except Antarctica, though closely related raptors did occur there in the Eocene. Adult falcons ...
. It belongs to a rather close-knit group of similar falcons often considered a subgenus ''
Hypotriorchis A hobby is a fairly small, very swift falcon with long, narrow wings. There are four birds called "hobby", and some others which, although termed "falcon", are very similar. All specialise in being superb aerialists. Although they take prey on t ...
''.


Taxonomy and systematics

The first formal description of the Eurasian hobby was by the Swedish naturalist
Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, ...
in 1758 in the tenth edition of his ''
Systema Naturae ' (originally in Latin written ' with the ligature æ) is one of the major works of the Swedish botanist, zoologist and physician Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) and introduced the Linnaean taxonomy. Although the system, now known as binomial nom ...
'' under the present
binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...
''Falco subbuteo''. The genus name ''falco'' derives from Late Latin ''falx'', ''falcis'', a
sickle A sickle, bagging hook, reaping-hook or grasshook is a single-handed agricultural tool designed with variously curved blades and typically used for harvesting, or reaping, grain crops or cutting succulent forage chiefly for feeding livestock, ...
, referring to the wing profile of the bird. The species name ''subbuteo'' is from
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...
''sub'', "below, less than, under" and ''buteo'', "buzzard". The species' English name comes from
Old French Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intelligi ...
''hobé'' or ''hobet''. It became the
trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from oth ...
for the Subbuteo games company after its creator, who was an ornithologist, was refused permission to register "Hobby". Currently two subspecies are recognized: * ''F. s. subbuteo'': the
nominate race In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics ( morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all specie ...
is resident in Africa, Europe and Central and East Asia, winters in Central and South Africa and South Asia * ''F. s. streichi'': described by Hartert and Neumann in 1907, is smaller in size and is found further east of ''F. s. subbuteo''s distribution range


Description

Adults are slate-grey above with a dark crown and two short black moustachial stripes. The throat is unstreaked white, thighs and undertail coverts are unstreaked rufous and rest of the underparts are whitish with black streaks. Close views enable the red "trousers" and vent to be seen. Sexes are similar. Juveniles are generally much browner, with scaled upper parts and streaked buffy thighs and undertail coverts. The hobby has a distinct first-summer plumage. This falcon is in length with a wingspan of and a weight of . File:Falco subbuteo from Kadzidlowo.jpg, from Kadzidlowo File:Hobby (Falco subbuteo) juvenile Danube delta.jpg, Juvenile, Romania File:Falco subbuteo kobuz1.jpg, In flight File:Falco subbuteo2.jpg, From Taiwan


Distribution and status

This species breeds across the
Palearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Si ...
realm. It is a long-distance migrant, wintering in Africa and Asia.


Behaviour and ecology

It is a bird of open country such as farmland,
marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found a ...
es,
taiga Taiga (; rus, тайга́, p=tɐjˈɡa; relates to Mongolic and Turkic languages), generally referred to in North America as a boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruces ...
and
savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...
. They are widespread in lowlands with scattered small woods. It is an elegant bird of prey, appearing sickle-like in flight with its long pointed wings and square tail, often resembling a swift when gliding with folded wings. It is fast and powerful in flight and will take large insects, such as dragonflies, which it transfers from talons to beak and eats while soaring slowly in circles. It also captures small bats and small
bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...
s in flight. Its speed and aerobatic skills enable it to take swallows and even swifts on the wing, and
barn swallow The barn swallow (''Hirundo rustica'') is the most widespread species of swallow in the world. In fact, it appears to have the largest natural distribution of any of the world's passerines, ranging over 251 million square kilometres globally. ...
s or house martins have a characteristic "hobby" alarm call. It is known to harass swallows while they are roosting and dispersing from roosts. When not breeding, it is
crepuscular In zoology, a crepuscular animal is one that is active primarily during the twilight period, being matutinal, vespertine, or both. This is distinguished from diurnal and nocturnal behavior, where an animal is active during the hours of dayli ...
, hawking principally in the mornings and evenings. While on migration, they may move in small groups. Hobbies nest in old nests of
crow A crow is a bird of the genus ''Corvus'', or more broadly a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. Crows are generally black in colour. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term " raven" is not pinned scientifica ...
s and other birds. The tree selected is most often one in a hedge or on the extreme edge of a
spinney Spinney may refer to: *A copse or thicket People * Art Spinney (1927–1994), American football guard * Caroll Spinney (1933–2019), American puppeteer and cartoonist *Edgar Keith Spinney, (1851–1926), Canadian politician * Franklin C. Spinn ...
, from where the bird can observe intruders from a considerable distance. It lays 2–4 eggs. Incubation is said to take 28 days and both parents share in this duty, though the female does the greater part. It is a very bold and courageous bird and was used in falconry, trained to hawk birds like
quail Quail is a collective name for several genera of mid-sized birds generally placed in the order Galliformes. The collective noun for a group of quail is a flock, covey, or bevy. Old World quail are placed in the family Phasianidae, and New ...
s, larks, hoopoes, drongos, etc.


References


External links


Eurasian Hobby or Hobby Falcon species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds

Ageing and sexing (PDF; 5.7 MB) by Javier Blasco-Zumeta & Gerd-Michael Heinze
* * * * * * {{Authority control Eurasian hobby Birds of prey of Eurasia Birds of Africa Eurasian hobby Eurasian hobby