The Eurasian Hobby (Falco subbuteo) is an elegant summer falcon fully adapted to catching prey on the wing, hunting insects, swallows and even bats at extraordinary speed. It measures 29–36 cm with a wingspan of roughly 74–84 cm and weighs 130–340 grams, the female clearly larger than the male. The upperparts are dark slate-grey, the underside pale with heavy, dense black streaking, and rusty-red "trousers" on the thighs along with a rusty-red undertail are good marks on adults, together with a distinct black moustachial stripe. The wings are long, narrow and scythe-like, giving a fast, elegant flight.
Its call, a rapid, high-pitched "ki-ki-ki-ki", is heard mainly near the nest site in June and July, lighter and thinner in tone than the similar call of the Common Kestrel; a disturbed pair can become highly vocal with long alarm calls that reveal the nest to an experienced birder. Breeding from southern and central Sweden north to southern Norrland, with a population estimated at 800–1,500 pairs, the Hobby favours open country with scattered stands of trees near lakes and bogs rich in prey. It builds no nest of its own, taking over an old stick nest — usually a former crow's nest — high in a pine, where the female lays 2–3 eggs late in the season, timed so the young are raised when flying insects and newly fledged small birds are most abundant. It catches almost all its food in the air, taking large flying insects such as dragonflies and beetles as well as small birds, notably swallows and swifts, and at dusk is one of the few birds able to catch bats.
Read about this species in Swedish →