32 replies to this topic

[BigOly]

[BarnSwallow]

Merlin? Definitely a falcon.

[BarnSwallow]

After looking a little more, I'm going with merlin. The wingtips don't come anywhere near the end of the tail.

[Liam]

Not cute enough for Merlin; not small enough and too dark. It's a juvenile Peregrine Falcon.

EDIT:. spoke too soon, apparently it could also be a Pacific form Merlin. I still think it's a juvie Peregrine Falcon, though.

[BarnSwallow]

That was my first thought, but according to Sibley's, the wingtips should nearly reach the tail - this one's are nowhere near. That said, the head doesn't really look merliny.

[Cavan Wood]

That looks like a dragonfly it's eating. I think merlin. Is it possible to look cute when eating dragonflies?

[Liam]

It could be a Darner, a family of very large dragonflies.

[BigOly]

So I guess this means it's a Merlin? That would be great, but so would Peregrine. Thanks

[Liam]

I still think Peregrine. Still looking too large for Merlin for me.

[Cavan Wood]

Okay, I may lose, but let's start a discussion about this.

Wouldn't a dark (Pacific?) juvenile peregrine have a wider "mustache"?
How common is a long white supercillium in dark peregrines?
The dark tail bands seem too wide for peregrine, especially the last one.
The wings look too short (could be angle)
The typical "look" changes when the beak opens.
How large is this damselfly?

[Liam]

You win, but I'd still be interested to see what Creeker or Kryptos think. Some Darners can be about 6".

[BarnSwallow]

Is it know if peregrines hunt insects? I'm on the fence about this one, but still leaning towards merlin. But I could probably be swayed. Maybe.

[Liam]

There's a paragraph or two about that on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia...._Falcon#Feeding

On Merlin, it says they eat "Larger animals...insects (especially dragonflies and moths), small mammals...and reptiles."
http://en.wikipedia...._(bird)#Ecology

[Sparky the Cuttlefish]

Staying out of the ID debate, but BNA Online has this in their Peregrine account:

"Sometimes hunts on foot after insects, other invertebrates, small mammals, and especially nestling and fledgling birds and precocial downy young (Sherrod 1983, Rosenfield et al. 1995, Dekker 1999). Particularly noted in Greenland, where passerines provide bulk of food."

[Kryptos18]

My first impression was def juvenile Peregrine.

[birdbrain22]

I am thinking Peregrine here as well.

[Cavan Wood]

Please tell me why. I'm still waiting for creeker before I concede.

[Kryptos18]

For me it's all about proportions. The size of the eye and especially the size of the beak make it a much larger bird than a Merlin imo.

[Platypus]

I just sent an email to my former ornithology prof asking him to help with the ID. He's the director of the Avian Science and Conservation Center of McGill University in Montreal, has raised countless Peregrines from eggs, and has been doing raptor research at McGill for upwards of 45 years.

I'm really looking forward to his reply, I think there's great points on both sides of the argument!

[creeker]

Merlin for me. Like Scott pointed out, I've not seen banding like that on a Peregrine's tail. The color, face pattern, supercillium, and apparent size (to me) leads me to that conclusion. I think we are used to seeing Merlins in the relaxed, waiting for prey position, which makes them appear a little "dumpier" than this one. This one is in a stretched out feeding position, which is unfamiliar to many of us.