Hi friends.  This week’s bird was suggested by a friend from work who follows along with these headers via the pictures I leave on the desktops of shared computers.  Her suggestion was the African Pygmy falcon, because the San Antonio Zoo has been posting cute photos of a newly hatched example.  

The African Pygmy falcon is native to eastern and Southern Africa.  It is the smallest raptor on the African continent and the second smallest on earth, only Asian falconets are slightly smaller.

The Pygmy falcon lives in dry brushland and hunts a variety of small prey, spotting it from a  perch and swooping in for the kill.  Some animals have learned to listen for the call of sociable weaver birds, which will warn of any danger including that represented by the Pygmy falcon with which they often live.  I’m not quite sure how that works, since the falcons also seem to group together with the sociable weavers for warmth.  I’d guess the falcons are good enough at hunting that having an alarm system to warn for bigger animals is worth the same alarm scaring off an occasional meal.

The falcons will live in nests abandoned by various kinds of weavers, even living in a nest colony alongside the weavers.  Although the falcons are predators and bigger than the weavers, the falcons are rarely (but not never) seen to hunt their fellow residents.  

Pygmy falcons mark their nests with their own waste, although the reason for this is unknown.  It may discourage intruders and parasites, it may help the chicks kick start their immune system, and it may simply signal that the nest is occupied.  

These birds may nest and raise chicks in groups for a variety of reasons like pooling resources, protection, and thermoregulation.  This last reason is also thought to be the reason they often nest with weavers, sociable or otherwise.  

The African Pygmy falcon occupies a total range of around three million square kilometers and is thought to number between 100,000 and one million individuals.  It is not considered threatened. Today’s post was written in a tent in a muddy field, I hope everyone appreciates my dedication to this endeavor, ha ha.  Have a good weekend, everyone.

Links: https://tinyurl.com/uytchc42, https://tinyurl.com/4sa7x2h6, https://tinyurl.com/2nwdpwdp, https://tinyurl.com/y7cb4txr