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Bird Sightings : Hebrides : Merlin
Merlin
Falco columbarius
Gaelic: Mèirneal
Photograph © Debbie Bozkurt
Vatersay - Barra - Outer Hebrides (Western Isles)
5th October, 2006Our Merlin photographs
Resident or migrant breeder / passage visitor
- Merlin
- AKA: Stone Falcon, Pigeon Hawk (flight - look a bit like pigeons)
- Falco columbarius
- UK AMBER LIST, 13,000 pairs (Summer) BTO
(1,300 breeding pairs) RSPB- Breeds: Upland moorland, birch scrub, forest. North America, Asia, Europe (UK nest usually a scrape on upland rocky or scrub moor in long heather)
- Winter: In Aug - Oct birds come down to inland & lowland coast areas & North European birds arrive. (Open countryside areas) .Some Icelandic breeding birds migrate to UK and birds that breed here move further south. Merlin often roost communally & with hen harriers. Africa, Asia, South America
- Habitat: Moor, heath, desert, open coniferous forest
- Diet: Small birds (mostly) usually caught by dashing pursuit
- Smallest bird of prey. Male: 10-13in long, wingspan 24-27in. Female slightly larger. Compact, relatively long square-cut tail & fairly broad-based pointed wings (shorter than other falcons')
Adult male: blue-grey above & orange-tinted below. Female & immature dark-brown above & whitish with brown spotting below.- Max recorded age: 12yrs 8mths
- Listen to a merlin (RSPB site)
- Similar birds: kestrel, sparrowhawk
Our smallest bird of prey.
Small but powerful...the hunting flight is a low-level glide,wings held close to body), pushed by occasional series of deft wingbeats (also hovers).During a stoop the wings close and the bird becomes a missile that comes upon it's prey with such speed and power that the bird can take prey up to 4 times it's own weight. Dashing, agile aerial chases are a speciality. Will take a grouse but mainly feeds on pipits and larks.
Debbie's online photo album
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