Even surrounded by shrieking, swirling and swooping Merlins, a
collection of descriptions, photos and drawings of them and even with
consulting folks with considerably more experience with Merlins and
Sharp-shins than I, the results of attempted identifications, not only
to species, but to subspecies, often is fraught with much confusion
and uncertainty. Though I have watched some urban Merlins during
their nesting season for 2 years now, I find myself as flummoxed as
to which individual I have just looked at or heard. Adding to the
confusion are visiting Merlins who wander through the nesting
territory, the fact that Merlins from different subspecies do
interbreed and the fact that all 3 subspecies have been spotted in
Puget Sound (usually in fall/winter). By the way, the Merlin
subspecies that I have been watching are considered to be the Black or
Pacific Merlin, but a few expert birders who have seen them have
thought that perhaps there is some Taiga mixed in. They are fairly
dark, which is the main distinguishing characteristic of them (yes,
the Peterson guide is in error).

Then, of course, it takes quite a bit of experience to key in on
whether or not you are looking at an adult or juvenile, a male or a
female, because it's supposed to take a year or two for the juveniles
to come into their adult plumages and in some cases, depending on
light, it can be quite the challenge to tell if you are seeing a dusty
brown or a light gray, or a dark, chocolaty brown or a brownish black,
and on and on... I find that behavioral cues such as flight patterns,
mode of hunting, ways of interacting with intruders, breeding displays
and other unique mannerisms are most helpful for semi-definitive
identification. And, especially in the case of the Merlins noted in
the Seattle/Puget Sound area (and I would suspect in other populations
as well), the vocalizations are quite distinctive (and often quite
LOUD). But, with limited experience with raptors (such as mine), a
Northern Flicker can easily trick you into thinking you have heard a
Merlin. And, I am now wondering if birds such as Steller's Jays will
start to mimic the Merlin calls, as they share the same habitat!
Things certainly aren't as simple as either they seem or we'd like.

So, Michelle, join the group of us who try, often with a mere fleeting
glance at a bird from only one vantage point and angle and in trying
light conditions, to share with others just which kind of bird just
visited our world. I suspect that even your memory of some of the
details of the bird you saw approach the juncos in your yard, may
already have been influenced by all of the responses you have received
from all of us who have tried to help solve your mystery. That happens
to me all the time - if you are lucky enough to have gotten a photo of
a visiting bird like that, that significantly helps get you back on
track, but so often there has been just a quick pass-through by the
bird.

Rather than drowning in a sea of frustration over identifying the bird
you saw, maybe you can savor the special memory of this bird in your
yard, and hope that, in the future you will have some more experiences
with Merlins and Sharp-shinned Hawks, to add to your personal base of
info and gestalts of them. And maybe some future sighting will tweak
the memory of your Junco-bird and bring you closer to identification
of your brief visitor.

Meanwhile, if you sometime wish to look at more information about and
photos of Merlins, here is a non-field-guide reference you may find
helpful or interesting:

www.merlinfalconfoundation.org - about WA Merlins, particularly the
Black/Pacific/Coastal Forest subspecies

Or, you may wish to check out the occasional raptor class offered by
Bud Anderson (Falcon Research Group) or Tom Aversa (through Seattle
Audubon). Bud had a 5-session class last year, but I don't believe he
is having one this year. However, Tom is offering one (2 lectures and
1 fieldtrip) starting at the end of this month.

Thanks for stimulating me and the others who responded, to your
sighting and questions, to think about and research some things for
you and for the general tweeterage.
------------------

Barb Deihl

North Matthews Beach, Seattle

barbdeihl at comcast.net