Eurasian hobby

Eurasian hobby
Falco subbuteo, Linnaeus, 1758

It is a bird from the Falconidae family. It only hunts in flight, mostly small birds, and does it in a very fast, agile and dynamic way. In the evening, during a calm flight over a water surface, it grabs dragonflies and beetles mid-air with its claws, tears their wings off and eats them immediately. It is one of the most skilled flyers among birds of prey. In flight, its shape resembles the common swift, which it also hunts for, being the only bird species in Europe capable of it (next to the male peregrine falcon).
Distribution: Europe, China, the Pacific; in winter: central and southern Africa, southern China, northern Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam

male / female
body length: 30–40 cm
wingspan: 75–85 cm
body mass: 0,19–0,25 kg