Merlin––a fast and feisty little falcon

The merlin is a spirited little falcon that blazes over the landscape in a blur of rapid wingbeats, often in pursuit of songbirds. If you are lucky, you may get a better look at our smallest, regularly occurring raptor as it scans intently for its next meal from a perch with a view.   

Merlins were formerly named “pigeon hawks” because of a resemblance to pigeons when in flight—a likeness that eluded me until recently when I momentarily mistook two merlins flying over the Solomon Bed & Breakfast for pigeons.

MALE – A male merlin is preening in a willow, showing the slate-colored wings and back that set him apart from the browner female. Photo by Kate Persons

Merlins are found around the globe in the northern forests and prairies of North America, Europe and Asia. They even make themselves at home in some northern cities, such as Anchorage. Although these falcons are widespread, they are uncommon throughout their range.

In this region, merlins are probably most abundant in the forested parts of the Seward Peninsula and the eastern drainages of Norton Sound. Most often, these small falcons breed in open forests or along forest edges where open terrain allows fast, unobstructed aerial hunting.

Merlins also breed in shrubby and tundra habitats beyond the treeline and are infrequently but regularly seen along all of the roads leading out of Nome.

Males arrive first in spring to claim their territories. Merlins form monogamous pair bonds for the season and sometimes reunite with a previous mate. Pair bonds are formed through spectacular aerial courtship displays.

Males perform powerful flights with dives and fluttering displays. The female may join and together they may circle, soar or glide while rocking side-to-side. The female may beg and be fed by her mate in either aerial hand-offs or at a perch.

Merlins do not build their own nests. Instead, they often use unoccupied stick nests of other raptors, ravens, or magpies, in trees or on cliffs. Or, in the north, they may nest on the ground. Ground nests are a depression (scrape) made by the female, usually hidden beneath shrubbery.

The only actual nesting observations in the region that I have been able to track down were made by now-retired Nome Fish and Game biologist, Peter Bente. Between 2003 and 2015, Bente recorded 16 merlin observations at potential nest sites during his annual aerial surveys to assess abundance, distribution, and breeding success of raptors on the peninsula.Bente found one pair with three eggs occupying a golden eagle cliff nest, and three adults at cliff-side stick nest sites with no eggs. Additionally, he noted 12 sightings of merlins, not at nests, but on cliffs or rock outcrops with stick nests which he thought probably attracted the birds to the sites.
Although few nest sites have been reported on the Seward Peninsula, these feisty falcons are highly territorial near their nests. Observations of defensive behavior such as swooping and incessant high-pitched alarm calls indicate that merlins are nesting in suitable habitat along each of Nome’s roads.

Biologists Mike Henderson and Kara Beers with The Peregrine Fund and I have encountered defensive merlins particularly in association with dense alder thickets.

In Alaska, egg laying is usually completed by the last half of May. The female lays three to six eggs and begins incubation a day before the last egg is laid. This ensures that the eggs hatch at close to the same time.

Both sexes incubate but the female is on duty over 75 percent of the time, only leaving the nest briefly to feed. The male hunts for himself and his mate. During incubation, he brings an average of three birds per day to the nest, and she leaves to eat nearby while the male incubates their eggs.

If the female doesn’t take the prey when the male delivers it, he will cache it nearby. And if the male doesn’t bring prey about every four hours, the female will retrieve food from the cache.

Downy chicks with closed eyes hatch in about a month. After hatch, the female broods the chicks for about a week while her mate vigorously defends the nest and feeds the family.

During the nestling stage, the male delivers about ten birds per day. When returning with prey, he calls and the female flies to greet him, takes the prey and returns to the nest to feed the chicks. She usually doesn’t resume hunting until the chicks are about three weeks old. The young stay in the nest for about a month and both parents continue to care for them for another month.

A young merlin’s first flights are awkward, with accidental landings on the ground or in the water. To gain their prowess in flight, they playfully chase each other or other raptors or prey species, and also hunt dragonflies.

Merlins feed mainly on songbirds, supplemented with some small mammals and insects, especially dragonflies. Although they can hunt birds as large as pigeons or small ducks twice their size, they usually take small-to medium-sized birds caught in short, quick flights. They often specialize in hunting the most locally abundant bird species.

MOBBING – A flock of redpolls sounds the alarm while perched in a willow above a male merlin. When small birds join forces to harass a larger predatory bird it is called mobbing. Their calls warn other birds of danger and recruit reinforcements to their flock. Merlins prey mainly on songbirds, so redpolls have good reason to pester this falcon. Merlins in turn mob larger raptors that may prey on them. Photo by Kate Persons

When hunting, a merlin typically scans for prey from a perch with an expansive view, then blasts off in horizontal flight with fast and powerful wing beats to catch songbirds in midair. They sometimes attack perched birds, or may surprise prey while flying fast below the treetops or close to the ground at an average flight speed of 30 miles per hour.

Sometimes fast and spectacular aerial maneuvers are called for when pursuing prey, and merlins will power into tight flocks of shorebirds or songbirds at high speed. Or they may hunt cooperatively in pairs, one flushing birds from the trees or ground while the other flies behind, ready to attack in the ensuing confusion.

Merlins typically leave the region between late August and the end of September. They winter across the western and southern coastal United States, Mexico, and Central and South America, as far south as Ecuador.

Merlins are sporty little falcons that occasionally are used for falconry, but their small size makes them less popular than larger falcons that hunt large prey. In Medieval Europe, merlins were known as lady’s hawks because they were flown by female falconers, including Catherine the Great and Mary, Queen of Scots.

Merlins are doing well in North America. The population recovered from steep declines in the 20th century after DDT was banned. In the 1960s, when many rural populations were decimated, some merlins began occupying cities in Canada and the northern United States. They have adapted well to city life with human neighbors.

The merlin population is increasing and their breeding range is creeping southward as they increasingly populate cities, which provide safe nest sites and abundant songbirds for prey.
If you haven’t seen this swift and energetic little falcon in this region, keep your eyes and ears open for a merlin when you next visit Anchorage.

Find the call of a merlin here: https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/601577591