[3] Philippine falconets nest in woodpecker holes of dead trees, and can be seen fairly commonly within their suitable habitats.

It has uniformly black upperparts from head to tail, and white underparts from cheek to lower neck, with a washed buff belly.

Species of genus Microhierax are found in Southeast Asia and are usually smaller than other individuals from the Falconidae family.

The southern population is found to be generally larger in size and has distinct differences in tail, bill, and wing.

[6] Coupled with genetic analysis, scientists still failed to explain this stepped cline in the morphology of the Philippine falconet.

[2] It is distributed across several Philippine islands (Luzon, Mindoro, Negros, Catanduanes, Bohol, Calicoan, Samar, Leyte, Cebu, Mindanao and Panay) and can be found in subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.

One study suggests that dragonfly makes up nearly 70% of their diet, alongside other insects such as bees, butterflies, grasshoppers, and beetles.

It is often seen up to six adult and juvenile Philippine falconets feeding on a single prey item that was caught previously.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed this bird as a Least-concern species as it has a large range and is still locally common in some areas.