Merlin in Flight
Falco columbarius suckleyi
by R. Stillman, after a photo by D. Drummond
Part I: Protecting the Nest
On June 27th, I joined David Drummond (Merlin Falcon Foundation) in field observations of Merlins. Our first view of Merlins this day was of the female. You can see her in these photos waiting for the male and the prey he would deliver to her.
David Drummond and I found the feathers from previous prey deliveries: Vaux's Swift, House Sparrow, Cedar Waxwing, American Goldfinch, Barn Swallow, and Red Crossbill. We also saw and heard other birds in this forest habitat: the singing of a Swainson's Thrush, American Robins, Winter Wrens (aka Pacific Wren), Bewick's Wren, and Red-Breasted Nuthatch. There was a Hairy Woodpecker drumming nearby. As I walked quietly near the prey delivery sites, I noticed the quiet agitation call of a Dark-Eyed Junco. "Chip-Chip-Chip." (I must have walked too near to its ground nest.) A Rufous Hummingbird buzzed by me, its wings making a sound like the sound that a card makes, when struck by the spokes of a spinning bicycle. (Remember that trick?)
In this photo, the female has begun a long preening session, starting with the upper body and working down to her feet.
Preening under the right wing
Individual feathers get preened
Merlins recycle old crows nests. This means that they often choose a nest near new crow nest sites. There are many territorial squabbles at first, but by the time that the Merlins and crows are raising their young, they seem to have settled down to an uneasy truce. At 11:05 I saw a sight that surprised me. I saw merlins and crows cooperating against a common enemy.
A Bald Eagle flew within 20 meters of both merlin and crow nests. The two crows and the female Merlin flew together and chased the eagle out of their territory. The Crow-Merlin flight formation lasted only as long as it took to run off the bigger raptor. They tail chased him out of sight. I was astounded by the cooperation.
Since the female was gone, the male immediately took over nest sentry duty. Here you see the male, watching the nest and, of course, preening. Notice the vibrant orange feet. Females have paler digits.
Notice the nicotating membrane (yellowish/pale), that closes during preening to protect the eyes.
Here the male buries his beak into his breast feathers.
This preen lasted from 11:25 to 11:45. Here the Merlin's eyes are partly open.
Each wing was preened.
At the end of the preen, the male suddenly focused...
...and thrust himself into flight.
Part II: Feeding Young
On July 3rd, David and I went to a different location and watched a male deliver prey to his nestlings. If you look closely, you can see the passerine bird he caught, held in his taloned feet.
More often, the male would take the food to his mate, but this time she watched from another perch about a hundred meters away while he took the bird to the young. She was making calls that would serve to distract potential enemies from what the male was doing.
After feeding them in the nest, he left and the young climbed out on a branch. At this stage, they are called 'branchers' and will be ready to try their wings in a few days. You can still see a little down on their heads, but they have their flight feathers.
The next stage for these youngsters is fledging and learning to successfully hunt.
III. Fledging
On July 6 I went to the second nest site and it was abandoned. On a nearby tree I saw one of the young merlins, now a fledgling. It still had little tufts of down on the crown of its head. The young must have fledged on July 4th (Independence Day!) or July 5th.
This particular fledgling was perched in a tree normally used by the parents for food exchanges. This was early morning.
This young bird is still dependent on its parents (despite the July 4th allusion). They will continue to bring food for the fledglings; later showing them how to hunt dragonflies, then small birds. Here you see the juvenile merlin pulling some cached food from behind the broken branch.
-temporarily satisfied, but ever alert-
