Nature Note #156: Merlins
In the months since I started working in Syracuse, my birding has taken a hit with the needs of working life sucking away free time on the weekends and evenings. However, as the dead of winter threatens us with cold winds and driving snow, there have been moments and opportunities to foster ornithological curiosity and observation.
Most of the birding that I do in Syracuse is usually accomplished during my morning and evening commutes to and from the zoo. Just as I was leaving work today, an adult Cooper's Hawk (Accipiter cooperi) belted over Conservation Drive and into the tangle of cedars and houses on the other side of the fence. Even in the city, nature finds a way in, around, or throughout, eventually.
Anyway, this morning as I was driving down Lodi Street, waiting for the most treacherous traffic lights I've ever experienced to change green, I noticed a small bird navigating the wind. It looked more aquatic in its handling of the wind, diving and cutting upwards and sideways, before eventually settling on a telephone pole near the Burger King. It was a small, black falcon which bobbed its head curiously at the lumbering, grumbling boxes below, surveying the wide expanse littered with papers and stalked by bulky, two legged pedestrians.
I watched the bird too. It's scythe-like wings resembled Robin's batarangs from the comics, while making its flight as simple and concise as it needed in that moment. It seemed likely that I was looking at a Merlin (Falco columbarius).
This wasn't the only Merlin I've seen this month. Just last week, again while leaving work, I saw a small, dark falcon blast across the parking lot with that burst of terrifying speed all birders have witnessed raptors display at some point in their lives. I couldn't tell if this one was hunting, but if it was, whatever was ahead of it was probably going to be it's next meal.
Despite their name, Merlins have no connection to Arthurian legend and instead get their name from the Middle French word esmerillon, although Diana Wells goes on to say in her book, 100 Birds and How they Got Their Names that merle also derived from esmerillon and was the old French word for the Eurasian Blackbird (Turdus merula). Possibly it was to do with the fact that blackbirds were once popular pie birds and using a Merlin to hunt them was the best way to capture them for supper.
With that aside, Merlins are quite lovely birds. Slightly bulkier than a kestrel, but not nearly as stocky and intimidating as a Peregrine (F. peregrinus), these falcons are migrants to Central New York and generally frequent open areas such as marshes, grasslands, farmlands, and open tundra. It is late for them to be up here, but I wouldn't be surprised if the unexpected warm weather has kept some inexperienced juveniles around longer than than most adults.
According to Cornell's All About Birds, they have also started nesting around towns and cities, although given the time of the year, that didn't seem to be on the mind of the bird I saw this morning. They are also found over most of the northern hemisphere and breed in the tundra and open areas of Canada, Alaska, Russia, and parts of northern Europe. As the weather grows colder, they migrate to the southern United States, Mexico, central and southern Europe, the United Kingdom, and parts of south and east Asia. During their migration, some stick to the coasts, following and hunting flocks of shore and songbirds that are migrating as well.
Meanwhile as the winter drags on here, I hope it can find enough food. It certainly has a lot to choose from what with large flocks of starlings and sparrows that congregate near the multitude of fast food joints or feeder birds massing near popular dining locations in and around the suburbs. Who knows if it will get that far, but even in the middle of morning rush hour, it's still a welcome change to see one of our wild neighbours surveying our landscape with a scrutiny that often escapes our notice and appreciation.
Most of the birding that I do in Syracuse is usually accomplished during my morning and evening commutes to and from the zoo. Just as I was leaving work today, an adult Cooper's Hawk (Accipiter cooperi) belted over Conservation Drive and into the tangle of cedars and houses on the other side of the fence. Even in the city, nature finds a way in, around, or throughout, eventually.
Anyway, this morning as I was driving down Lodi Street, waiting for the most treacherous traffic lights I've ever experienced to change green, I noticed a small bird navigating the wind. It looked more aquatic in its handling of the wind, diving and cutting upwards and sideways, before eventually settling on a telephone pole near the Burger King. It was a small, black falcon which bobbed its head curiously at the lumbering, grumbling boxes below, surveying the wide expanse littered with papers and stalked by bulky, two legged pedestrians.
I watched the bird too. It's scythe-like wings resembled Robin's batarangs from the comics, while making its flight as simple and concise as it needed in that moment. It seemed likely that I was looking at a Merlin (Falco columbarius).
This wasn't the only Merlin I've seen this month. Just last week, again while leaving work, I saw a small, dark falcon blast across the parking lot with that burst of terrifying speed all birders have witnessed raptors display at some point in their lives. I couldn't tell if this one was hunting, but if it was, whatever was ahead of it was probably going to be it's next meal.
Despite their name, Merlins have no connection to Arthurian legend and instead get their name from the Middle French word esmerillon, although Diana Wells goes on to say in her book, 100 Birds and How they Got Their Names that merle also derived from esmerillon and was the old French word for the Eurasian Blackbird (Turdus merula). Possibly it was to do with the fact that blackbirds were once popular pie birds and using a Merlin to hunt them was the best way to capture them for supper.
With that aside, Merlins are quite lovely birds. Slightly bulkier than a kestrel, but not nearly as stocky and intimidating as a Peregrine (F. peregrinus), these falcons are migrants to Central New York and generally frequent open areas such as marshes, grasslands, farmlands, and open tundra. It is late for them to be up here, but I wouldn't be surprised if the unexpected warm weather has kept some inexperienced juveniles around longer than than most adults.
According to Cornell's All About Birds, they have also started nesting around towns and cities, although given the time of the year, that didn't seem to be on the mind of the bird I saw this morning. They are also found over most of the northern hemisphere and breed in the tundra and open areas of Canada, Alaska, Russia, and parts of northern Europe. As the weather grows colder, they migrate to the southern United States, Mexico, central and southern Europe, the United Kingdom, and parts of south and east Asia. During their migration, some stick to the coasts, following and hunting flocks of shore and songbirds that are migrating as well.
Meanwhile as the winter drags on here, I hope it can find enough food. It certainly has a lot to choose from what with large flocks of starlings and sparrows that congregate near the multitude of fast food joints or feeder birds massing near popular dining locations in and around the suburbs. Who knows if it will get that far, but even in the middle of morning rush hour, it's still a welcome change to see one of our wild neighbours surveying our landscape with a scrutiny that often escapes our notice and appreciation.
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