Hobbies are migratory falcons that feed on large insects and small birds, with their welfare increasingly threatened by the collapse of aerial insect populations.
Hobbies arriving in Britain to find reduced aerial insect populations face acute nutritional stress before breeding. In poor insect years, adults must travel further and expend more energy to provision chicks. Sub-lethal energy deficits reduce chick growth rates and immune function. Insecticide use that reduces dragonfly and large insect prey impoverishes hobby feeding habitat directly. Migration through countries with active hunting pressure causes mortality and injury risk. Climate change altering emergence timing of large flying insects may cause mismatch with hobby breeding requirements.