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Eleonora's falcon: The raptor that imprisons birds live by stripping their feathers and stuffing them in rocks

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Name: Eleonora's falcon (Falco eleonorae) 

Where it lives: Breeding in the Mediterranean and off the northwest coast of Africa, wintering in Madagascar

What it eats: Insects, bats and small birds

Why it's awesome: The Eleonora's falcon is a small raptor that takes its hunting abilities to the next level — by catching its prey alive and keeping them imprisoned. It captures small birds, strips their flight feathers preventing them from being able to fly, then stuffs them into rock fissures or deep holes, from which they cannot escape. 

a small bird with its head sticking out of a hole in some rocks

A small bird believed to have imprisoned by an Eleonora's falcon on the Mogador archipelago. (Image credit: Abdeljebbar Qninba)

Strangely, only one population of Eleonora's falcon is known to partake in this unusual predatory behavior. The behavior was already known to local fishers, but ornithologists first described the hunting technique in 2015 after carrying out a census of the species on the Mogador archipelago, off the west coast of Morocco.

Scientists think that by keeping birds captive, the raptors can keep their food source fresh until it's needed. While the majority of the prey are small songbirds, they also eat swifts, hoopoes (Upupa epops) and some waders.  

Related: The human-sized African bird that eats baby crocodiles and kills its siblings

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