Editing Dragonfly (section)

== Predators ==

[[File:Red Hornbill eating insect.jpg|thumb|[[Southern red-billed hornbill]] with a captured dragonfly in its bill]]

Although dragonflies are swift and agile fliers, some predators are fast enough to catch them. These include falcons such as the [[American kestrel]], the [[merlin (bird)|merlin]],{{sfn|Berger|2004|pp=48–49}} and the [[hobby (bird)|hobby]];<ref>{{cite web|title=Hobby|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Eurasian_Hobby|publisher=BBC Nature|access-date=26 February 2015}}</ref> [[nighthawk]]s, [[Swift (bird)|swift]]s, [[Old World flycatcher|flycatchers]] and [[swallow]]s also take some adults; some species of wasps, too, prey on dragonflies, using them to provision their nests, laying an egg on each captured insect. In the water, various species of ducks and herons eat dragonfly nymphs{{sfn|Berger|2004|pp=48–49}} and they are also preyed on by newts, frogs, fish, and water spiders.{{sfn|Meister|2001|p=16}} [[Amur falcon]]s, which migrate over the Indian Ocean at a period that coincides with the migration of the globe skimmer dragonfly, ''[[Pantala flavescens]],'' may actually be feeding on them while on the wing.<ref>{{cite journal|journal=Journal of Tropical Ecology|volume=25|issue=4|year= 2009|pages=347–358|doi=10.1017/S0266467409006087|title=Do dragonflies migrate across the western Indian Ocean?|first=R. Charles|last= Anderson|s2cid=86187189}}</ref>