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Close-up of a hobby in flight

Hobby

Hobbies are the flying aces among falcons. Cutting and swirling through the air with graceful beats of their long wings, they perform agile and daring manoeuvres. Dragonflies and other insects are easily snatched right out of the air, while small birds such as swifts and swallows are swooped on with a deadly speed. Pairs of hobbies put on spectacular acrobatic displays as they pass food to each other mid-air. Their typical habitat is the open country, bush and savannah of Europe, Asia and Africa. In Britain, many nest in farmland hedgerows and open woodland.

Scientific name: Falco subbuteo

Rank: Species

Common names:

Eurasian hobby

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Distribution

Map showing the distribution of the Hobby taxa

Species range provided by WWF's Wildfinder.

The Hobby can be found in a number of locations including: Africa, Asia, China, Europe, Indian subcontinent, Mediterranean, Russia, United Kingdom, Wales. Find out more about these places and what else lives there.

Habitats

The following habitats are found across the Hobby distribution range. Find out more about these environments, what it takes to live there and what else inhabits them.

Behaviours

Discover what these behaviours are and how different plants and animals use them.

Additional data source: Animal Diversity Web

Conservation Status

Least Concern

  1. EX - Extinct
  2. EW
  3. CR - Threatened
  4. EN - Threatened
  5. VU - Threatened
  6. NT
  7. LC - Least concern

Year assessed: 2009

Classified by: IUCN 3.1

About

The Eurasian Hobby (Falco subbuteo), or just simply Hobby, is a small slim falcon. It belongs to a rather close-knit group of similar falcons often considered a subgenus Hypotriorchis.

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