The
Eurasian hobby (
Falco subbuteo), or just
hobby, is a small, slim falcon. It belongs to a group of similar falcons often considered a subgenus of
Falco.
Taxonomy and systematics: The first formal description of the Eurasian hobby was by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his
Systema Naturae under the present binomial name
Falco subbuteo. The genus name
falco derives from Late Latin
falx,
falcis, a sickle, referring to the wing profile of the bird. The species name
subbuteo is from Latin
sub, "below, less than, under" and
buteo, "buzzard". The species´ English name comes from Old French
hobé or
hobet. It became the trademark for the Subbuteo games company after its creator, who was an ornithologist, was refused permission to register "Hobby".
Two subspecies are recognized:
- F. s. subbuteo: the nominate race is resident in Africa, Europe and Central and East Asia, winters in Central and South Africa and South Asia
- F. s. streichi: described by Ernst Hartert and Oscar Neumann in 1907, is smaller and is a resident species from Myanmar to south China and north Indochina.
Adults are slate-grey above with a dark crown and two short black moustache stripes. The throat is unstreaked white, the thighs and undertail coverts are unstreaked rufous and the 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 .
Distribution and habitat: This species breeds across the Palearctic realm. The subspecies
F. s. subbuteo is a long-distance migrant, wintering in Africa. The subspecies
F. s. streichi is mainly resident and does not migrate. It is a rare vagrant in North America, with extralimital records from Massachusetts, Washington, and Alaska in the United States, as well as in Newfoundland and British Columbia in Canada. It has also been sighted in Australia and Brazil.
Behaviour and ecology: It is a bird of open country, such as farmland, marshes, taiga and savannah. 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 birds in flight. Its speed and aerobatic skills enable it to take swallows and even swifts on the wing, and barn swallows 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, hawking principally in the mornings and evenings. While on migration, they may move in small groups.
Hobbies tend to nest in old nests of birds such as crows and rooks, typically having a single brood and laying 2–3 eggs from June to August. Incubation is said to take 28 days and both parents share in this duty, though the female does the greater part. The tree selected is most often one in a hedge or on the extreme edge of a spinney, from where the bird can observe intruders from a considerable distance.
It is a very bold and courageous bird and was used in falconry, trained to hawk birds like quails, larks, hoopoes, drongos, etc.