de Baerdemaeker, André

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Short communicationsRed-necked Falcons Falco chicquera hunting at a roost of African Palm Swifts Cypsiurus parvusThe Red-necked Falcon Falco chicquera ruficollis is a medium-sized falcon that is found in large parts of eastern and southern Africa and from Somalia west into Senegambia along the sub-Sahel region (Ferguson-Lees & Christie 2001). It favours open grass-lands, marshes, dambos (wetland) and floodplains where it is most often associated with Borassus and Hyphane palm trees (Kemp 1994, Osborne 1981, Dowsett-Lemaire & Dowsett 2006), but also with dry thorn tree savanna with isolated palms (Cole-brook-Robjent & Osborne 1974). Throughout its range, the Red-necked Falcon mainly hunts birds, and to a lesser extent bats, rodents, reptiles and insects (Brown & Ama-don 1968, Osborne 1981, Maclean 1985, Kemp 1994). Because of its association with palm trees, the Red-necked Falcon lives in close proximity to another African bird species that is associated with palm trees, the African Palm Swift Cypsiurus parvus (Moreau 1941, Fry et al. 1988, Chantler 1999, Dowsett-Lemaire & Dowsett 2006). De-spite this, interactions between both species, that are bound to occur, have not been described in detail. On 18 July 2013, at around 17:30, I observed a pair of Red-necked Falcons perching in a tree top in the town of Nsanje (formerly known as Port Herald, 16°56’ S, 35°16’ E), southern Malawi. I had seen the falcons making hunting sorties from that same tree-top around dawn and sunset on previous occasions that month, but I was unable to see what prey they were hunting. The falcons were situated 30 m from a large Borassus aethiopum palm tree where approximately 30 African Palm Swifts were gathering at dusk. The swifts gathered to roost in between the palm leaves but seemed hesitant to enter the roost. Instead, they circled the area, calling and showing signs of agitation. The male Red-necked Falcon attacked the swarming swifts from his perch in a fast level flight, but this did not result in a catch. The swifts scattered and both falcons moved on. Both falcons returned to their perch the following morning at 06:00. The male was plucking and eating a small passerine bird, while the female was making begging calls. Eventually the female took the half-eaten prey from the male’s talons and fin-ished it. Around the base of the tree I found some prey remains that were dropped by the falcons. These consisted of feathers and bills belonging to a male House Sparrow Passer domesticus and a Cut-throat Finch Amadina fasciata, and a couple of primary feathers of an African Palm Swift. I conducted a search using Google Scholar with keywords Falco chicquera/ruficol-lis, Cypsiurus parvus, and consulted the online tables of contents of African ornitho-logical journals (Bulletin of the African Bird Club, Gabar, Scopus, Malimbus and Ostrich). It seems that African Palm Swift has not previously been recorded as a prey species of Red-necked Falcon. The same applies to the Cut-throat Finch. However, informa-tion on prey composition in Africa is scarce. Osborne (1981) is one of the few sources with a substantial list of prey species (n = 292). He noted at least 13 identified bird species taken in Zambia, as well as a number of undetermined bird, mammal and insect species. African Palm Swift and other swift species were not recorded in his account. Cade (1982) mentions ‘swifts’, as a food source for the Red-necked Falcon but does not specify any species. Bijlsma et al. (1994) observed Red-necked Falcons attacking a large roost of Barn Swallows Hirundo rustica in Botswana. A pair managed to catch a Barn Swallow on a cooperative hunt in twilight. These crepuscular hunting habits seem to be normal in Red-necked Falcons outside the breeding season (Brown 21Short communications& Amadon 1986). This behaviour is also described for the nominate race (Falco c. chic-quera), sometimes called Red-headed Falcon, that occurs from south-eastern Iran, east to Bangladesh (Naoroji 2011). Besides birds gathering to roost, both races also attack emerging bats (Fry 1964, Hanmer 1984, Foysal 2015). Hanmer 1984 describes how Red-necked Falcons attacked emerging bats at Nchalo, Malawi with fast horizontal attacks from an elevated perch. A method very similar to the one I described above. ReferencesBiJLsmA, r.g., vAn Den Brink, B., De roDer, f. & terPstrA, k. 1994. Raptor predation on roosting swallows. Gabar 9(1): 13–16.BroWn, L.H., & AmADon, D. 1968. Eagles, hawks and falcons of the world. Feltham: Country Life Books.BroWn, L.H., urBAn, e.k. & neWmAn, k. 1982. The Birds of Africa. Vol. 1. London: Academic Press.CADe, t.J. 1982. The falcons of the world. London: Collins. CHAntLer, P. 1999. Family Apodidae (Swifts) pp 388–457 in del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J. (eds) Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 5: Barn-owls to Hummingbirds. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions.CoLeBrook-roBJent, J.f.r. & osBorne, t.o. 1974. High density breeding of Red-necked Falcon Falco chiqcuera in Zambia. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 94: 172–176.  DoWsett-LemAire, f. & DoWsett, r.J. 2006. The birds of Malawi. Liège: Tauraco Press and Aves. ferguson-Lees, J. & CHristie, D.A. 2001. Raptors of the World. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.foysAL, m. 2015. Observations of Red-headed Falcon Falco chiquera (Aves: Falconiformes: Fal-conidae) nest at Keraniganj, Dhaka, Bangladesh, with a focus on post-fledging behaviour. Journal of Threatened Taxa 7(5): 7138–7145.fry, C.H. 1964. Red-necked Kestrel Falco chicquera hunting bats. Bulletin of the Nigerian Ornitho-logical Society 1: 19. fry, C.H., keitH, s. & urBAn e.k. 1988. The Birds of Africa. Vol. 3. London: Academic Press. HAnmer, D.B. 1983. Red-necked Falcons hunting bats. Bokmakierie 35(1): 24. kemP, A.C. 1994. Red-necked Falcon. P. 265 in: Del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. & Sargatal J. (eds) Hand-book of birds of the world. Vol. 2. New World vultures to guineafowl. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions.Long, C.r. 1973. The birds of the Port Herald District (part I). The Society of Malawi Journal 26(2): 56–63.mACLeAn, g.L. 1985. Roberts’ Birds of Southern Africa. Fifth edition. London: New Holland Ltd. moreAu, r.e. 1941. A contribution to the breeding biology of the Palm-swift, Cypselus parvus. The Journal of the East Africa and Uganda Natural History Society 15: 154–170.nAoroJi, r. 2011. Breeding of the Red-headed Falcon Falco chicquera in Saurashtra, Gujarat, India. Forktail 27: 1–6.osBorne, t.o. 1981. Ecology of the Red-necked Falcon Falco chiquera in Zambia. Ibis 123: 289–297.André de BaerdemaekerNatural History Museum Rotterdam, Westzeedijk 345, 3015 AA Rotterdam, The NetherlandsEmail: debaerdemaeker@hetnatuurhistorisch.nlScopus 38(2): 21–22, July 2018Received 19 February 201822

Short communications: Red-necked Falcons Falco chicquera hunting at a roost of African Palm Swifts Cypsiurus parvus

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Short communications: Red-necked Falcons Falco chicquera hunting at a roost of African Palm Swifts Cypsiurus parvus

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