[2] It is native to Brunei, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, and vagrant to Sri Lanka.

[1] Thomas Horsfield described to the Linnean Society of London in 1820[3] a Javan variety of Falco cærulescens (the collared falconet).

[4] Also in 1824, Auguste Drapiez published the name Falco fringillarius,[5][6]: 412 : plate v  and Nicholas Vigors proposed the genus Ierax or Hierax.

[1] It can also frequently be found around human cultivation, villages, and near active slash-and-burn forest clearance; often by rivers, streams, and paddy fields.

[2] This falconet mainly feeds on insects, including moths, butterflies, dragonflies, alate termites and cicadas, occasional small birds, and lizards.

[2] This falconet is generally social and gregarious, often found in loose pairs or groups of ten or more.

[2] Although most of these illustrations were published with the name Falco cærulescens Linn., Sharpe determined that they represent M. fringillarius (Drapiez).