Hi Tweets

>At 04:22 PM 3/7/97 -0800, Janet Partlow wrote:
>>A few years ago, a brown Merlin lived in downtown Olympia for one
>>winter, making its regular diet the pigeons who lived there.
>
>Kelly McAllister wrote:
>I have seen a Merlin in downtown Olympia several times this winter. Usually
>the bird is speeding by very low, crossing busy roads at radiator level or
>zooming between houses at gutter level. Based on conversations with others,
>I believe that Olympia has its small share of wintering Merlins every year.

Vancouver BC likewise has wintering and migrant populations, with a few
nesting pairs in scattered locations (one pair has nested in West Vancouver
near the beach for several years; between the nest contact-calling parents
and yammering young birds, they're *noisy* little blighters!). Usually
southbound migrants show up in August with the juvenile shorebirds, and
Merlins up high in April, in full soar, are heading to the ol' homestead up
north somewhere. Which race arrives, winters here (or not, going further
south) and leaves on which schedule is anyone's guess. It's hard to age,
sex, and assign to race a small dark bullet seen usually from the corner of
the eye as it makes a flash appearance between two buildings.

A few years ago, a male 'Black' Merlin wintered in the neighborhood of
high-rises near the edge of Stanley Park, preying on starlings and the odd
pigeon. For a few weeks, I was always finding starlings lying face-down on
the sidewalk with large holes in the backs of their skulls, like there was a
birding gang-war going on. Found out that when they don't have to work too
hard for prey, Merlins will often pop a bird just for its brain, the richest
source of complex protein matter in a bird's body. Picky, picky.

Sorry if I missd this in a previous posting, but would a Merlin feed on a
pigeon on the ground where it has fallen, or does it have the strength (I'm
assuming a female: I don't think the males have the size) to lug it up to a
rooftop or suchlike?

(Best line about Merlins is, in my opinion, in Pete Dunn's book, Hawks in
Flight: "...a Merlin's territory can be inferred to be wherever it finds
itself." That sums up perfectly the attitude--and I do mean 'attitude'-- of
this hammered-down little welterweight among birds. See also Ted Hughes'
marvelous little poem 'Hawk Roosting'.)

Cheers






Michael Price
Vancouver BC Canada When I found out that seven of my years
(604) 668-5073 vx was only one of theirs,
(604) 668-5028 fx I started biting absolutely everything.
mprice at mindlink.net
michael.price at istar.ca -Max Carlson (Ron Carlson's dog)