Hi Josh & Tweets:

Richardson's Merlin, subspecies Richardsonii, is the same as a "Prairie"
Merlin. They are quite rare in Western WA. Most of the Merlins I have seen
in my Seattle neighborhood (Ballard) and other parts of Western WA over the
past few years appear to be Taiga Merlins (Columbarius) or, as far as I can
tell, intermediate between Taiga and Black Merlins (Suckleyi). Whatever the
subspecies, they are fast, agressive and great to watch.
I did not see as many in my neighborhood last year or so far this year and
can't help but wonder if the noticeable increase in Cooper's Hawks is a
factor.

Ruth Taylor
rutht at seanet.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Josh Hayes <josh at blarg.net>
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Date: Tuesday, December 11, 2007 12:30 PM
Subject: Re: [Tweeters] A merlin in my neighborhood


>> Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2007 16:25:08 -0800
>> From: "Clarence C. Lupo" <Gos at tds.net>
>> Subject: Re: [Tweeters] A merlin in my neighborhood
>>
>> They are a slick little falcon, and more of them than one realizes
>> since they can spend so much time in the forest unseen. Was yours a
>> Richardson's or Black?
>> Clarence
>
>I thought the "Richardson's" was equivalent to the "prairie" form I
remember
>when I first learned this bird (about 30 years ago). Is that correct, or is
>this a split (or perhaps just race description) that's different? I did a
>little googling around and couldn't find useful info on it....
>
>-Josh
>
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