Search

Black-thighed Falconet – courtship behaviour

on 5th August 2019

“I posted juvenile Black-thighed Falconets (Microhierax fringillarius) that fledged in the middle of May 2019. They have been feeding independently for some time. I went back for a visit and observed two of them displaying courtship behaviour. These birds are first year Black-thighed Falconets (part of the brood that fledged recently) as seen from the significant residual rufous colouration on the white parts of the head (although some adult females may retain some rufous content into the second year – see Ferguson-Lees & Christie 2001 and HBW 2019). One bird had more rufous in the head and is possibly the female. Some notes on the courtship behaviour I observed:

1. Allopreening: This was very common and prolonged. This is a well-known courtship behaviour in this species (below).

2. Nibbling: I am not sure how to refer to this behaviour that was also frequent. One bird would ‘bite’ or rather ‘nibble’ the neck, legs, feet, etc of the other bird. A little different from allopreening where there is preening or grooming of the feathers of the partner.

3. Billing: I saw frequent ‘mouthing’, or rather I should call it ‘billing’. The birds would lock their beaks and nibble between beaks (below).

4. Submission Postures: One bird would assume a lower posture, either on a branch or even to the extent of lying down in front of the other bird. During this display, the other partner watches intently. The presumed female appeared to offer submission postures more often (below).

5. Holding/gripping Partners Leg: On three occasions I saw one bird forcefully grip the leg of the bird. Occasionally the other bird would respond by nibbling the claw griping the leg (below).

6. Flight Displays: the birds would also engage in joint flight/aerial displays where they would fly off together high up, falling back sharply to the perch or ground. On one occasion I saw them lock claws (grappling) while dropping in flight (akin to what we observe in larger raptors courtship displays).

7. Inspecting the Rear End: On a number of occasions I saw one bird inspect the rear end of the other bird, very much like dogs do. The presumed male appeared to do this action more often. At first I thought this was nibbling the rear of the leg, but saw it too often to be mistaken.

8. Although they had one preferred perching site, they did move from site to site while courting.

9. I did not hear any calls associated with the courtship.

10. I did not see any courtship feeding. I did see one episode where one bird attempted to share the dragonfly caught by the other bird but was refused.

11. There were no leaf gifts during the duration of my observation, as described in Pied Falconets (Allen et al 2002).

12. I did not observe any copulation.

“In view that they were first year birds and recently independent, I did consider if the behaviour I was observing was more of sibling affection rather than courtship. But the duration, wide range of behaviours shown and the extensive nature of the activities suggests that this is courtship or at least attempted/sham courtship.

“Merged videos of some courtship behaviour below.”

Dato’ Dr Amar-Singh HSS
Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
1st July 2019

Location: Ipoh City, Perak, Malaysia
Habitat: Limestone hills at outskirts of the city

References:
1.
James Ferguson-Lees, David A. Christie (2001). Raptors of the World. Bloomsbury Publishing PLC.
2. Clark, W.S. & Kirwan, G.M. (2019). Black-thighed Falconet (Microhierax fringillarius). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from HERE on 1 July 2019).
3. Desmond Allen, Paul I Holt, Jon Hornbuckle (2002). Leaf presenting As Possible Courtship Behaviour by Pied Falconets Microhierax Melanoleucos. The journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. Volume 99, pg 518—520.
4. Ong Kiem Sian (2006). Courtship of the Black-thighed Falconet. Bird Ecology Study Group LINK.
5. Connie Khoo (2007). Black-thighed Falconet: Mating and nesting rituals. Bird Ecology Study Group LINK.

If you like this post please tap on the Like button at the left bottom of page. Any views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the authors/contributors, and are not endorsed by the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (LKCNHM, NUS) or its affiliated institutions. Readers are encouraged to use their discretion before making any decisions or judgements based on the information presented.

YC Wee

Dr Wee played a significant role as a green advocate in Singapore through his extensive involvement in various organizations and committees: as Secretary and Chairman for the Malayan Nature Society (Singapore Branch), and with the Nature Society (Singapore) as founding President (1978-1995). He has also served in the Nature Reserve Board (1987-1989), Nature Reserves Committee (1990-1996), National Council on the Environment/Singapore Environment Council (1992-1996), Work-Group on Nature Conservation (1992) and Inter-Varsity Council on the Environment (1995-1997). He is Patron of the Singapore Gardening Society and was appointed Honorary Museum Associate of the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (LKCNHM) in 2012. In 2005, Dr Wee started the Bird Ecology Study Group. With more than 6,000 entries, the website has become a valuable resource consulted by students, birdwatchers and researchers locally and internationally. The views and opinions expressed in this article are his own, and do not represent those of LKCNHM, the National University of Singapore or its affiliated institutions.

Other posts by YC Wee

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Categories
Archives

Overall visits (since 2005)

Live visitors
661
8879
Visitors Today
51620834
Total
Visitors

Clustrmaps (since 2016)