Pygmy falcon: a psychopath in the body plush toy (10 photos)

Not all villains are creepy. Some of them are cuties, and you'd want to sign over your apartment to them. Take the African pygmy falcon, for example. It looks like a stuffed animal, but in reality it's an unprincipled bastard with the habits of a thug!





The African pygmy falcon is the smallest falcon in Africa, and one of the smallest representatives of the family in the world. A little more than a palm long and weighing only 50-70 grams, it looks like a decorative souvenir - a miniature of a larger and more formidable falcon. And the fluffy feathers that give it a rounded outline and the varied but soft colors turn it into a toy that is not shameful to even dream about.



We appreciated the falcon's small size.

But these cuties live in unexpectedly harsh and demanding regions. The species consists of two independent populations, each of which lives in extremely dry and hot shrub steppes. One population lives in South Sudan, Uganda and Tanzania, and the other has inhabited Angola and South Africa. And between them there are thousands of kilometers of territory where no one knows about the existence of little falcons.





Mom, look, I'm a punk!

The prey of pygmy falcons matches their size: insects, rodents, lizards, and chicks with very small birds. But they are not fools, and have long since learned to hide in thorny thickets, where it is not so easy to get them. But pygmy falcons cope. They brazenly rush straight into the thorny bushes and grab the prey, which thinks that it is safe. And they are saved from injury by that very downy layer, which gives them cuteness.



I wonder where he got half a lizard?...

And they solve the housing issue with equally straightforward methods: they take away the dwellings of social weavers. Moreover, the falcons choose the best, central rooms, in which it is not so hot. Well, the weavers have no choice: the enraged predator, although it does not consider the weavers as part of its standard diet, is strong enough to drive the family out into the scorching sun. Or, if they resist, it will simply peck them to death.



The nests of social weavers are a whole metropolis on a tree, in which several hundred birds live at once. It looks incredible, but we will write about this next time.

Gradually, a disadvantaged area forms around the bandit's apartment. Social weavers have no desire to repair someone else's apartment, so it gradually falls into disrepair. The condition of the adjacent nests also deteriorates - after all, the walls are common.



But African falcons are quite tame. Their high intelligence facilitates training and communication with humans.

As if that weren't enough, the falcon also thoroughly fouls the entrance to its home. The reasons for this behavior, by the way, are unknown. Pygmy falcons don't have any antibacterial or antifungal agents, so such a violation of hygiene should be fraught with consequences for them as well. The only somewhat clear assumption is that they mark their home for their own so that any other pygmy falcon knows not to break in.



Your crazy neighbor who screams at night and rolls balls on the floor.

But relatives still break in. Pygmy falcons are one of the few falcons that are capable of fighting each other to the death. And they have many reasons for fights: tasty hunting grounds, a beautiful apartment and, of course, females. The first case of one pygmy falcon killing another was recorded in 2017 and happened precisely because of a female. Perhaps one of the males was too unhappy with the fact that the female was showing signs of attention to both him and his competitor. Falcons are usually monogamous, but can have several males at the same time - this behavior is called polyandry.



Are you going to pester my Ninka again?

Due to their small size and hot climate, pygmy falcons reproduce very quickly. Three weeks after mating, the female lays three eggs, which take about a month to incubate. Another month later, the young falcons take to the wing and leave their unattractive home.



Two schoolchildren are sad that they will soon have to take the Unified State Exam ((

However, such high fertility does not help them quickly increase their numbers due to two strict limitations. The first is the colonies of social weavers. The size of the falcon populations depends on their numbers and habitat. Outside of their nests, freeloading birds are simply unable to reproduce. The second is the high mortality rate even at the initial stages of life. 49% of falcon nests are destroyed by predators. And adult falcons themselves are prey for birds of prey bigger.



So it turns out that we have typical gopniks before us: they bully peaceful residents, but give in to bigger bandits.

It's hard to say what is more in their behavior: the desire to take everything by force or simply to survive in difficult conditions, a life they did not choose. Fortunately, the author of this article is not a judge, so he cannot (and does not want to) judge the birds for their impudence and crimes. But he himself would definitely not want to be such a fluffy handsome man with a cruel soul.