The Philippine falconet (''Microhierax erythrogenys'') is a species of bird of prey in the family
Falconidae
The falcons and caracaras are around 65 species of Diurnality, diurnal birds of prey that make up the family Falconidae (representing all extant species in the order (biology), order Falconiformes). The family likely originated in South America d ...
, genus ''
Microhierax
The typical falconets, ''Microhierax'', are a bird of prey genus in the family (biology), family Falconidae. They are found in southeast Asia and the smallest members of Falconiformes, averaging about in length and in weight. The smallest membe ...
''.
It is endemic to the lowland forests of
Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
, and can often be seen near open forest edges hunting flying insects.
Philippine falconets nest in
woodpecker
Woodpeckers are part of the bird family (biology), family Picidae, which also includes the piculets, wrynecks and sapsuckers. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar and the extreme ...
holes of dead trees, and can be seen fairly commonly within their suitable habitats.
Although the Philippine falconet population is declining due to habitat loss, it is still evaluated as "Least Concern" globally.
Description
The Philippine falconet has a length of 15 – 18 cm, a wingspan of 32 – 37 cm, and a body mass of 37 – 52 g.
Compared to other members in the Falconidae family, it is extremely small. Philippine falconet has a plumage coloration of black and white. It has uniformly black upperparts from head to tail, and white underparts from cheek to lower neck, with a washed buff belly. The underwing converts are black, and the flight feathers are inconspicuously barred white.
Female has all-black underwings (unlike male, which has white spots on inner webs to the remiges) and is also up to 20% larger.
The southern subspecies are slightly larger than the northern subspecies.
Scientists also found that individuals on different islands have distinct differences in tail, bill, and wing, indicating exceptional degrees of
endemism
Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...
in this species.
Taxonomy

The Philippine falconet belongs to a small bird of prey genus in the family of Falconidae. Species of genus ''Microhierax'' are found in Southeast Asia and are usually smaller than other individuals from the Falconidae family. There are currently five extant species in this genus.
Scientists found that all five species cluster separately from other falconet species, and form a sister group to the larger ''Falco'' assemblage.
The genus name ''Microhierax'' comes from ancient Greek, meaning “tiny hawk”. ''Microhierax erythrogenys'' was grouped into this genus in 1874 by Sharpe Bowdler.
Subspecies
Two subspecies are recognised:
* ''M. e. erythrogenys'' – Found in
Luzon
Luzon ( , ) is the largest and most populous List of islands in the Philippines, island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the List of islands of the Philippines, Philippine archipelago, it is the economic and political ce ...
,
Mindoro
Mindoro is the seventh largest and eighth-most populous island in the Philippines. With a total land area of 10,571 km2 ( 4,082 sq.mi ), it has a population of 1,408,454, as of the 2020 census. It is located off the southwestern coast of ...
,
Negros
Negros (, , ) is the fourth largest and third most populous island in the Philippines, with a total land area of . The coastal zone of the southern part of Negros is identified as a site of highest marine biodiversity importance in the Coral Tr ...
,
Catanduanes
Catanduanes (; ), officially the Province of Catanduanes (), is an island province located in the Bicol Region of Luzon in the Philippines. It is the 12th-largest island in the Philippines, and lies to the east of Camarines Sur, across the M ...
, and
Bohol
Bohol (), officially the Province of Bohol (; ), is an island province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas Regions of the Philippines, region, consisting of the island itself and 75 minor surrounding islands. It is home to Bohola ...
* ''M. e. meridionalis'' – Found
Calicoan
Calicoan is an island east of Leyte Gulf, off the southeastern point of Samar in the Philippines. It is one of the islands that are part of the municipality of Guiuan, Eastern Samar, Guiuan, in the Provinces of the Philippines, province of Easter ...
,
Samar
Samar ( ) is the third-largest and seventh-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 1,909,537 as of the 2020 census. It is located in the eastern Visayas, which are in the central Philippines. The island is divided in ...
,
Leyte
Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census.
Since the accessibility of land has been ...
, and
Cebu (likely extriprated) to
Mindanao
Mindanao ( ) is the List of islands of the Philippines, second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and List of islands by population, seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the ...
The two subspecies are morphologically different from each other as a result of colonizing diverse island habitats with geographic barriers. The southern population is found to be generally larger in size and has distinct differences in tail, bill, and wing.
One study looking at the morphological difference in Philippine falconet surprisingly found that those distinct differences in tail, bill, and wing also exist within subspecies.
Coupled with genetic analysis, scientists still failed to explain this
stepped cline
Cline may refer to:
Science
* Cline (biology), a measurable gradient in a single trait in a species across its geographical range
* Cline (hydrology), a fluid layer with a property that varies
* Cline (mathematics) or generalised circle, a ci ...
in the morphology of the Philippine falconet.
More studies are encouraged to look for similar trends in other Philippine birds.
Habitat and Distribution
The Philippine falconet is endemic to the
Philippine archipelago
As an archipelago, the Philippines comprises about 7,641 islands clustered into three major island groups: Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao. Only about 2,000 islands are inhabited, .
It is distributed across several Philippine islands (Luzon, Mindoro, Negros, Catanduanes, Bohol, Calicoan, Samar, Leyte, Cebu, Mindanao and
Panay
Panay is the sixth-largest and fourth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total land area of and a total population of 4,542,926, as of 2020 census. Panay comprises 4.4 percent of the entire population of the country. The City of Il ...
) and can be found in subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.
Philippine falconet usually occurs in pairs, or in family groups, and is usually singing. When foraging, this species perches on prominent branches or canopy of old dead trees where it hawks for prey.
Behaviors
Vocalization
The Philippine falconet gives a rapid, high-pitched “kek-kek-kek-kek” and a continuous, squeaky “pew-pew-pew-pew” with about two notes per second.
Diet
Like other falconets, Philippine falconets do not hover or soar. They hunt aerial prey from exposed tree perches and chase them down with fast and powerful flights. Once the prey is snatched in the bird's
bill
Bill(s) may refer to:
Common meanings
* Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States)
* Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature
* Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer
* Bill, a bird or animal's beak
Pl ...
, it is carried back to the same perch where it gets eaten. The species feeds mainly on insects and smaller birds. The proportions of insects and birds in the diet may vary according to availability. One study suggests that
dragonfly
A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of dragonflies are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threat ...
makes up nearly 70% of their diet, alongside other insects such as
bee
Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfamil ...
s,
butterflies
Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...
,
grasshopper
Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are amongst what are possibly the most ancient living groups of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago.
Grassh ...
s, and
beetle
Beetles are insects that form the Taxonomic rank, order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Holometabola. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 40 ...
s.
Juvenile Philippine falconets learn how to hunt by watching and participating in communal hunting with experienced adults. It is often seen up to six adult and juvenile Philippine falconets feeding on a single prey item that was caught previously.
Reproduction
Breeding takes place in March and April.
However, sometimes nests can be found as early as November.
It is still unclear when precisely breeding takes place, but scientists generally believe that it differs in different island environments.
Philippine falconets are cavity nesters.
They prefer old woodpecker or
barbet holes at 6 to 10 meters above the ground in dead trees at the edge of forests.
The clutch size is typically 3 – 4 eggs. The nest is strongly defended by both adults.
The family usually stays together until the next breeding season.
for similar trends in other Philippine birds.
Conservation status
The
International Union for Conservation of Nature
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the stat ...
has assessed this bird as a
Least-concern species
A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...
as it has a large range and is still locally common in some areas. However, despite not being a threatened species, the population is believed to be on the decline and is just estimated at 670 to 6,700 mature individuals. This species' main threat is
habitat loss
Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...
with wholesale clearance of forest habitats as a result of logging, agricultural conversion and mining activities occurring within the range.
External links
ebirdBirds of the WorldGlobal RaptorsAviBase
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q747998
Philippine falconet
Endemic birds of the Philippines
Philippine falconet
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
Taxa named by Nicholas Aylward Vigors