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PLEASE! If you see any mistakes, I'm 100% sure that I have wrongly identified some birds.
So please let me know on my guestbook at the bottom of the page
So please let me know on my guestbook at the bottom of the page
  The Pygmy Falcon, or African Pygmy Falcon (Polihierax semitorquatus), is a falcon that lives in eastern and southern Africa and is the smallest raptor on the continent. As a small falcon, only 19 to 20 cm long, it preys on insects, small reptiles, and small mammals. Range, habitat, and population The pygmy falcon inhabits dry bush. The subspecies P. s. castanonotus occurs from South Sudan to Somalia and south to Uganda and Tanzania; P. s. semitorquatus occurs from Angola to northern South Africa. This range is estimated to have an area of 2.7 million km2, and the total population is estimated to be between 100,000 and 1 million birds.  Range map for Polihierax semitorquatus based on
BirdLife International and Durham University data. By derivative work: Mskyrider Blank map source from BlankMap-World6.svg
by en:User:CanuckguySpecies distribution info from BirdLife International and Durham University (2011) Species climate change impacts factsheet: Polihierax semitorquatus. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 24th November 2011., CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17358157   Range map from www.oiseaux.net - Ornithological Portal Oiseaux.net
www.oiseaux.net is one of those MUST visit pages if you're in to bird watching. You can find just about everything there
Description Adult pygmy falcons are white below and on the face, grey above, and females having a chestnut back. There are white "eye spots" on the nape. Juveniles have a brown back, duller than adult females, with a rufous wash on the breast. The flight feathers of the wings are spotted black and white (more black above, more white below); the tail is barred black and white. The flight is low and undulating. In size, pattern, and the habit of perching upright on an exposed branch or treetop, this species resembles some shrikes. The call is "a high-pitched kikiKIK, repeated" (Kenya) or "a 'chip-chip' and a 'kik-kik-kik-kik'" (southern Africa).
Listen to the Pygmy Falcon
Sound from www.xeno-canto.org
 Nesting In Kenya, pygmy falcons nest in white-headed buffalo weaver nests, and the ranges of the two birds coincide. In southern Africa, they are found around red-billed buffalo weaver nests but predominantly nest in the vacant rooms of sociable weaver nests, which are large and multichambered—even if the sociable weavers still have an active colony in the nest. Despite being bird-eaters and bigger than sociable weavers, the pygmy falcons largely leave the latter alone, though they do occasionally catch and eat nestlings and even adults. Pygmy falcons provided one of the rare documented cases of intraspecific killing to acquire a new mate and territory. Cooperative breeding Pygmy falcon territories are occasionally inhabited by groups, where there are more than two adults living together and tending nestlings. There are four potential reasons for this behaviour: defence, co-operative polyandry, delayed dispersal of offspring and cooperation, and thermoregulation (warmth). Corroboration for the last is that in winter African pygmy falcons nest further inside the nest of sociable weavers, where there is better insulation. Conservation status
 Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN. 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  Sighted: (Date of first photo that I could use) 1 November 2019 Location: Yabelo, Elephant Rock, Ethiopia  Pygmy Falcon - 1 November 2019 - Yabelo, Elephant Rock, Ethiopia
 Pygmy Falcon - 1 November 2019 - Yabelo, Elephant Rock, Ethiopia
 Pygmy Falcon - 1 November 2019 - Yabelo, Elephant Rock, Ethiopia
 Pygmy Falcon - 1 November 2019 - Yabelo, Elephant Rock, Ethiopia
 Pygmy Falcon - 1 November 2019 - Yabelo, Elephant Rock, Ethiopia
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