The African Pygmy Falcon is a small bird of prey that lives in parts of eastern and southern Africa. The tiny falcon measures just about 7.5 inches long and is the smallest bird of prey found in Africa.
African Pygmy Falcons are white below and grey above. They have reddish orange feet and around their eyes. Their are black spots on the flight feathers and the barred tail also appears spotted when the bird is at rest.
These darling little birds of prey use old weaver nests for breeding. Although they are predatory birds, they nest among active buffalo-weaver or Sociable Weaver colonies and usually leave the weaver birds alone. Usually. ;)
The African Pygmy Falcon is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List and was last assessed in 2012 by BirdLife International. This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). The population trend appears to be stable, and hence the species does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size is very large, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.
African Pygmy Falcons live in dry bush in parts of eastern and southern Africa. These little cuties measure just over seven inches long, making them the smallest bird of prey found in all of Africa. African Pygmy... Read more »
