At 11:03 PM 2/11/98 -0800, Jerry Converse wrote:
>Don Baccus wrote:
>snip
>> Raptors don't necessarily have to be hungry to take prey.
>snip
>
>If they are stuffed and still take prey, what do they do with it?
>
>I haven't ever seen one packin a zip lock bag. :-)
>
>Jerry Converse
>Grand Coulee, WA
>
>It's my understanding, and a couple of years of observation, that about
this time of year a female merlin chooses a nest site; then she sits there
and yells "feed me, feed me" in a quite noticeable tone of voice.
Meanwhile the male obligingly brings her back part of his prey. This goes
on for some weeks before they actually mate.

Well, that's my interpretation.

Good birding,

Mickey Gibson
Sequim, WA