Pygmy Falcon

Common resident to arid western region. Identified by very small size and entirely white underparts, the female with a chestnut-brown mantle. In flight, told by speckled wings and white rump. When perched on roadside telephone poles, can easily be mistaken for a shrike owing to its small size. A species of the dry west. Pairs usually seen perched on thorn trees (Camelthorn tree) or baobabs in open grassy areas, often close to the communal nests of the [Sociable Weaver] or, less commonly, [Red-billed Buffalo-Weaver], with which it shares the nest chamber and whose distribution it is linked with. Call is a high pitched ‘Kik kik kik’ often while bobbing tail and head. Hunts from a perch, mainly on lizards and skinks, large insects, small rodents and nestlings sometimes those of its nest hosts. 40- 75 g.