Granddad’s Camera
Hobby, as it appears in the game

No.032 · Birds · Rare

Hobby

Falco subbuteo

A fast, swift-shaped falcon that catches dragonflies, swallows and martins on the wing, and eats them as it flies.

When to look

May to September, mostly at day and dusk.

Time of day

Best time
Warm days, late April to September; best in July–August when dragonflies and young hirundines are abundant.
Where in the game
the New Forest (heath, mire and ancient woodland) and the Norfolk Broads (fen, reedbed and grazing marsh)
Size
Length 33–38 cm
Wingspan
About 87 cm
Weight
About 211 g (BTO average)
Lifespan
Oldest ringed bird 14 years 10 months (BTO)
Population
About 2,050 pairs in the UK (BTO, 2016)
Status
Green (Birds of Conservation Concern 5, 2021)

Diet

Dragonflies and large insects, swifts, swallows and martins, and small birds.

Habitat

Heathland edges with scattered pines, farmland with copses, wetlands and reedbeds with dragonflies.

Breeding

Takes over an old crow or pigeon nest in a tree; 2–3 eggs laid mid-June to July; chicks fledge in August.

Field signs

  • Sickle-shaped wings and a swift-like dash in the air
  • Dark moustache and rusty 'trousers' on adults
  • Sharp 'kew-kew-kew' call near nest
  • Wings and legs of dragonflies dropped beneath a feeding post

Did you know?

  • It is a summer visitor, arriving from Africa in late April and leaving by October–November (BTO).
  • Its breeding range covers about four times as many 10-km squares as in the 1968–72 Breeding Atlas (BTO).
  • It eats dragonflies in flight, passing the prey from talons to bill mid-air.

Moments worth waiting for

  • Dragonfly hunt June to August, day and dusk
    A hobby stoops on a hawker dragonfly, seizes it and feeds on the wing, dropping wings as it goes.
  • Chasing swifts July to September, day
    A pack of swallows scatters and mobs as a hobby scythes past.

Photo tip

Pick a warm afternoon at a heath edge or reedbed with dragonflies and settle where the sky is open. Shoot at 1/2000 s and use a 500 mm lens; predict its glide line. Watch swallows and martins: when they climb and call, a hobby is near.

Be a good naturalist

Schedule 1 species: never approach an active nest, or look for one, from June to August. Keep well away and do not photograph at a nest without a licence. Do not use decoys or playback.

The law

Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 Schedule 1: it is an offence to disturb it at or near a nest without a licence.

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