On most smartphones and tablets you can also select 'Desktop' at the very bottom of the page or 'Request Desktop Site' in your browser's menu to see this line (do a search to find out how). On non-mobile versions of our website, a small bronze star icon ( ) on the top right corner of an article's page indicates that the article is featured. It uses the weaver nests as roost, but also as nest-site, and especially the huge communal nesting structure of Sociable Weaver (Philetairus socius) in South Africa. Articles that no longer meet the criteria can be proposed for improvement or removal at featured article review. HABITAT: African Pygmy Falcon frequents arid and semi-arid steppes with sparse vegetation and some large trees or plants.

There are 6,394 featured articles out of 6,741,716 articles on the English Wikipedia (about 0.09% or one out of every 1,050 articles). Many featured articles were previously good articles (which are reviewed with a less restrictive set of criteria). Before being listed here, articles are reviewed as featured article candidates for accuracy, neutrality, completeness, and style according to our featured article criteria. They are used by editors as examples for writing other articles. When food is scarce, the falcon can strike and kill the sociable weaver chick and brings it in the nest chamber for the young ones and the hungry family.Featured articles in Wikipedia This star symbolizes the featured content on Wikipedia.įeatured articles are considered to be some of the best articles Wikipedia has to offer, as determined by Wikipedia's editors. Like other raptors, the Africa pygmy falcon regurgitates twice daily. After the falcon sights its prey, it quickly dives to the ground snatching its victim in its talons, and then it returns to the perch for feeding. It perches from a tall tree as it watches down for a food. Regardless of their size, they are a voracious predator just like birds of prey. The pygmy falcon majorly depends on insects and lizards for food but will also feed on rodents and small birds. Pygmy falcon mobility depends on the availability of weaver since they use their nesting for mating hence have very limited distribution and also its prone to prey due to its size, it can also avoid the savanna grassland habitat that is devoid to the sociable weaver bird nests. Falcons avoid forests and open edges but frequently visit huge nests of birds who they share roosting and nesting sites with. They prefer a climate that is arid or semi arid. The falcons live in two different places in Africa. Although both parents incubate the eggs for thirty days, it takes a higher toll on the female. The falcon pair evicts one to two of the weavers from their nest and the female lays around four eggs. When courting, the female falcons perform exaggerated tail wagging displays which is followed by the pair moving to the nest of a sociable weaver. Their size enables them to share a nest colony which provides a safe and weatherproof environment. Similar to the woodpecker, falcons are agile in flight and can dart through the air. Found in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam, its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and dry savanna. The pygmy falcon is diurnal which means it is active in the morning and late afternoon but spends the majority of the day roosting. Its coloration is similar to the African pygmy falcon (Polihierax semitorquatus), but the white-rumped falcon is larger and proportionally longer-tailed. Falcon flight is low and undulating and because of its size and pattern, it perches upright in an open treetops and it usually inhabits dry bush. The flight feathers of the wings are spotted black and white (more.

Juveniles have a brown back, duller than adult females, and a rufous wash on the breast. There are white eye spots on the (back of a bird’s neck). The flight feathers of the wing are spotted black and white while the tail is barred black and white. Adult African Pygmy-falcons are white below and on the face, grey above, the female having a chestnut back. The females falcon has a chestnut back and white eye spot on nape while the juvenile falcon have a brown back which is duller the adult female one with a rufous wash on the breast. For instance the male adult pygymy falcon is white below and on the face while their back is grayish in colour. Physical Descriptionįalcon physique varies depending on whether or not they are male or female. They prey on insects, small mammals, and small reptiles and are six inches long on average. The pygmy falcon is the smallest type of predatory bird in Africa and can mostly be found in eastern and southern parts of the continent. Pygmy Falcon facts - Animals of Africa A pygmy falcon in South Africa.

African pygmy falcon video