Merlin

Last winter at Duke Farms I encountered a Merlin. No, I don't mean a wizard; I'm talking about a falcon that's a bit bigger than our American Kestrels. (As I recall, after taking this picture I think I thought I had gotten a picture of a kestrel, but when I processed the picture I realized I had their bigger cousin instead.)

Merlins have only a slightly larger length and wingspan than American Kestrels but must be a little stockier since they weigh over 50% more. Though my field guide says they're both uncommon, I've gotten far more kestrel pictures compared to Merlin pictures (25-3) [1].

The Merlin is a Northern Hemisphere species, residing mostly in Eurasia and North America [2], though different areas have different subspecies. New Jersey has the Taiga Merlin subspecies.

While some places put out kestrel boxes to encourage them to nest there, Merlins don't compete for those boxes since they mostly breed up in Canada. It's probably a good thing for our kestrels that Merlins don't breed here; Merlins are described as "fierce falcons", and would probably use their size and ferocity to win any disputes with their smaller cousins.

February 9, 2023 at Duke Farms
Photo 263480760, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)


[1] While All About Birds says they're rarely in New Jersey during migration, my field guide implies they'll winter here more often than that.

[2] Their range does extend into very northern parts of South America and Africa too.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Northern Watersnake

Image
This April I went to Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge with the hope (among other hopes) of seeing the Northern Watersnakes during mating season. There were 2 problems with this: I think it was slightly late in the season for this. The boardwalk trail where I had seen them in the past was partially closed due to repairs. So although I didn't see any of the 2+ intertwined snakes that I'd seen in the past, but there were still Northern Watersnakes warming themselves in the sun: April 13, 2023 at Great Swamp Photo 272117862, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) And here's another one coming out of the water. April 13, 2023 at Great Swamp Photo 272119139, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
Read more

Female Brown-headed Cowbird

Image
Like quite a few birds, this bird is easier to identify when spotted with her significant other ; she's a Brown-headed Cowbird . Due to their tendency to be monogamous plus plain old birds-of-a-feather behavior, I usually see them with prominently brown-headed males around, greatly improving my confidence in IDing them. My understanding is that Brown-headed Cowbirds are the only obligate brood parasites in my area. Obligate brood parasites have essentially lost all their parenting skills, and thus if they were ever unable to fool other birds into raising their young, they would (almost certainly) go extinct [1]. There are, however, other brood parasites in New Jersey. These are called facultative brood parasites, and these birds will usually raise their own offspring, but will also engage in brood parasitism. (Exactly when birds perform facultative brood parasitism seems variable; one source said it occurred when resources were scarce while another said it occurred when resource
Read more

Rooftop Turkey Vultures

Image
I met these Turkey Vultures by just walking out of my apartment. (I theoretically could have gotten a picture without going outside, but that extra layer of glass can degrade picture quality a little.) Although they don't show up on these rooftops daily, they're not an uncommon visitor to my apartment complex. Similar to this spot of the woods , I wouldn't expect this to be a great place to find carcasses. I'm thinking they're here mostly because: They don't have to worry much about predators up there. They get a pretty good view of the area in case something should happen to succumb. (This apartment was near the top of a hill, providing a better view than most of the other apartments.) Since this picture was from February, it's probably a slightly warmer spot, especially near those furnace vent pipes. Although these are Turkey Vultures, it's also not unusual to see Black Vultures up there too. February 28, 2023 at Finderne Photo 264703396, (c) jpviole
Read more