Collared Falconet

The Collared Falconet with the scientific name Microhierax

caerulescens is one of the species of bird of prey which belongs to the Falconidae family. The quick clarification of this collared falconet is given below,

Kingdom	Animalia
Phylum	Chordata
Class	Aves
Order	Falconiformes
Family	Falconidae
Genus	Microhierax
Species	Microhierax caerulescens

Physical Characteristics:

The size of the collared falconet is in the range of 15 to 18 cm. The wingspan of this species is in the range of 30 to 34 cm. The adult male collared falcons have a black crown and white forehead with a black streak above the eyes and forming a broad white collar on the nape of the neck. The upper parts of this bird is glossy black in colour and the innermost secondary parts are in little white colour. It also has tail quills. It has a deep chestnut below the throat. Its breast and under wing coverts are in white colour. The collared falcons' tail is black in colour and has four white bars. The eyes of this species are in brown colour and the cere and feet is in black colour. Female and immature collared falcons look similar to the male falcons. But the female birds have more white in their wings. During the flight the white spots in the wings of these species are visible.

Behaviour:

This species are very shy and nervous in nature. They fly from tree to tree and seldom rest on a branch for any length of time.

These species are commonly found in lightly forested country up to 5,500 feet above the ground.

It prefers the locations like old cultivations, clearings with dead trees and natural open spaces. These species are sometimes found in places like deciduous forests, grassy wood lands and the edge of the forests.

Migration:

This collared falconet species are resident in nature and they do not migrate. These species live in the places where they belong to.

Food Habits:

These species are one of the small species in the world. The main food for these species is insects and especially butterflies. They also prefer dragonflies, grasshoppers, cicadas, beetles and lantern-flies. These species sometimes take small open habitat or forest bird species and lizards as their food. They catch the prey during flight. It sometimes perches on the dead branches. It catches the prey during flights and returns to the perch and eats them.

Places Found:

This species are commonly found in the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia. They are also found in the countries like Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Vietnam and Thailand.

Mating and Nesting

The breeding season for this collared falconet is in between February and March to May. They start pairing during the March month. They lay the eggs in Mid- April. These species nest in cavities present in the trees. They sometimes breed in woodpecker holes, barbet holes or any other hole which is positioned on the underside branch of a tree. Half of the nest is filled with dried leaves and insect parts which make a bed-like layer in the nest.

The height of the nest is in the range of 10 to 12 m (up to 20 feet) from the ground.

The clutch size of this species is four or five. These eggs are in dirty white colour and they are unmarked. Sometimes these species eggs are covered with small reddish spots.

Both male and female birds are involved in the incubation. But the female bird takes the most part in the incubation. The incubation period for this bird is 33 days. The eggs need to be in constant warm temperature or dry. So, if the climate is warm , the parents will leave the eggs alone and will go for hunting.

Baby falconets are called as eyass. Falconets' chicks are one of the helpless birds. Usually, one of their parent will stay with the young ones,mostly female will stay with the young one, sometimes male also spends time with the eyass and the other one will collect food for the brood. Eyass eat an incredible amount of food. So,they become double their weight in two weeks. In the sixth week, their weight is equal to ten times of their birth weight. The falconets start hunting at 3 to 9 weeks.

Threats and conservation:

The Collared Falconet species have an extremely large range of species around the world. The population trend of these species appears to be stable Because of this, it does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion.

So, this species are categorized as "Least Concern" by the ICUN.

Subspecies of Collared Falconet in India

There are two sub species of collared falconet recognized in the world. The quick classification of this collared falconet subspecies is given below,

1. M. c. caerulescens which is commonly found in the places ranging from Himalayas of India and Nepal to Assam.
2. M. c. burmanicus which is commonly found in the places ranging from Myanmar to southern Indochina.

1. There are 62 species of falconets recognized in the world.

Among that, 15 species are found in India. That is, Collared Falconet Microhierax caerulescens, Pied Falconet Microhierax melanoleucus, Red-necked Falcon Falco chicquera, Eurasian Kestrel Falco tinnunculus, Merlin Falco columbarius,

Lesser Kestrel Falco naumanni, Red-footed Falcon Falco vespertinus, Amur Falcon Falco amurensis, Oriental Hobby Falco severus, Lanner Falcon Falco biarmicus, Eurasian Hobby Falco subbuteo, Laggar Falcon Falco jugger, Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrines, Saker Falcon Falco cherrug, Barbary Falcon Falco pelegrinoides.

2. Like other falconets this collared falconet also behaves like a flycatcher.
3. This species creates a small shrike during flight.
4. The other names for this collared falconet are Himalayan Red breasted falconet (caerulescens), Red thighed falconet, Red breasted falconet and Red legged falconet.
5. These species are very aggressive in nature to human intrusion or any other birds near the nesting area.
6. The first food for the eyass is dragonflies or butterflies.
7. These species breed at their two years of age.
8. This species belongs to the family of diurnal birds of prey.