# Eurasian hobby (*Falco subbuteo*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/eurasian-hobby  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The Eurasian hobby (Falco subbuteo), also called the hobby, European hobby or northern hobby, is a small bird of prey in the family Falconidae and the genus Falco. Adults weigh 208.2 g, with reported values from 181.5 g to 240.5 g, and the wingspan is 74 cm. It is a migratory, aerial invertivore of woodland habitat, placed at the carnivore trophic level, with a geographic range of 28,260,000 km². It lays 3 eggs per clutch, one clutch per year, incubated for 29.5 days, and its IUCN Red List category is Least Concern, not a threatened category.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 181.5 g – 240.5 g |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Wingspan | 74 cm |
| Lifespan | 10.8 years |
| Diet | Invertivore |
| Longest recorded lifespan | 14.1 years |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | woodland |
| Egg incubation | 29.5 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 3 |
| Age at maturity | 12 months – 17.9 months |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1 |
| Lifestyle | Aerial |
| Migration | Migratory |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Aves
- order: Falconiformes
- family: Falconidae
- genus: Falco
- species: *Falco subbuteo* Linnaeus, 1758

Synonyms: *Falco barletta*, *Falco dendrofalco*, *Falco hirundinum*, *Hierax subbuteo*

## Common questions

### What kind of animal is the Eurasian hobby?

The Eurasian hobby is a bird of prey in the family Falconidae, order Falconiformes. It is classed as small by adult body mass.

### How much does a Eurasian hobby weigh?

An adult Eurasian hobby weighs 208.2 g, with reported values from 181.5 g to 240.5 g.

### What is the wingspan of the Eurasian hobby?

The Eurasian hobby has a wingspan of 74 cm.

### What does the Eurasian hobby eat?

The Eurasian hobby is an invertivore, placed at the carnivore trophic level, and it forages in the air.

### Is the Eurasian hobby endangered?

No. The Eurasian hobby is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.

### How long does a Eurasian hobby live?

The Eurasian hobby has a lifespan of 10.8 years, with values up to 14.1 years reported.

### How many eggs does the Eurasian hobby lay?

The Eurasian hobby lays 3 eggs per clutch and has 1 clutch per year. The eggs are incubated for 29.5 days.

### Who named the Eurasian hobby?

The Eurasian hobby was named Falco subbuteo by Linnaeus, 1758.

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), CC0 1.0, E096-269. Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
- [AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7), CC BY 4.0, v7. Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7
- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org), per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed), 2026-11-11. Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), CC BY-SA 4.0, 2026-11-11. Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

Cite as: Eurasian hobby (Falco subbuteo). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/eurasian-hobby