Merlin & American Kestrel | ROLLING HARBOUR ABACO

AMERICAN KESTRELS ON ABACO: ‘LET US PREY…’

To be honest, I haven’t done these fine birds justice. Barely a mention of them for 3 years. Too much else on the land and in the water to choose from. I posted some of my photos from an outing to Sandy Point HERE. And the kestrel kinsman MERLIN got some attention a while later. Time to make amends with some more AMKE.

As many or most of the images show, utility wires (also posts) are a favourite perch for kestrels. They get an unimpeded view of the only thing that really matters in their lives – outside the breeding season, of course – PREY.

In my experience it’s quite rare to see AMKEs on the ground – unless they are in the act of ripping up some hapless rodent pinned to the earth. I was with photographer Tom Sheley when he captured this fine bird in the grass.

Tom also took this outstanding photo, on an overcast day, of a kestrel feeding its fledgeling a large insect.

Treasure Cay and its surrounding area makes for a good day’s birding. Although South Abaco, below Marsh Harbour, is the go-to location, TC has plenty of scope for a great variety of species from shore birds to songbirds – including the occasional Kirtland’s warbler. The golf course pond at hole #11 is well worth checking out (with permission at the club house, rarely declined unless there’s an event of some sort). So is the large brackish lake system where you may well find herons and egrets. There’s been a rare (for Abaco) pearly-eyed thrasher there recently. And you may find yourself being watched by a kestrel from a vantage point.

A richly-coloured specimen

A kestrel in streamlined flight, with its feet tucked tightly under its body

Bird on the Wire

OPTIONAL MUSICAL DIGRESSION

One of Leonard Cohen’s standards, and a song covered by almost everyone from Johnny Cash to Heathen Gonads*, Bird on the Wire was on the album Songs from a Room (1969). It was a favourite of Cohen’s, who once said “I always begin my concert with this song”. Covers range from the excellent via good, interesting, and strange to outright bizarre. Joe Bonamassa’s take on it (as Bird on a Wire) on Black Rock, is certainly… unusual**.

Credits: Bruce Hallett (1, 10); Charles Skinner (2); Peter Mantle (3, 9); Tom Sheley 4, 5, 6); Nina Henry (7); Tom Reed (8)

*not really . **shows originality & ingenuity -vs- dents his purist bluesman credentials

FIERCE LITTLE FALCONS: MERLINS ON ABACO

Merlins (Falco columbarius) are fierce small falcons that are fast and agile in flight. On Abaco, they are fairly common winter residents – though finding one and managing to photograph it may take a bit of doing. And maybe a dose of luck. The ‘columbarius‘ part of their taxonomy reflects their colloquial name ‘Pigeon Hawk’. Merlins are found throughout much of the northern hemisphere. They are classified as a New World species and an Old World / Eurasian subspecies, F c aesalon. Some argue for two distinct species, the gene pools of the two versions apparently having parted company ten of thousands of years ago. The birds aren’t overly bothered by the debate.

Merlin World Range Map: yellow = summer, blue = winter

HOW DO MERLINS DIFFER FROM AMERICAN KESTRELS (AMKE)?

Slightly larger and notably heavier (thus having more speed and endurance in flight)
Different colouring, e.g. lacking the indicative reddish-browns of the AMKE
Distinctive tail-barring as against black ends to the tail feathers with a white fringe
Unlike the AMKE they don’t hover, but close in directly on the small birds that are the main prey, often flying very low to surprise the victim.

For comparison: Merlin in South Abaco, American kestrel at Sandy Point American Kestrel, Abaco (Keith Salvesen)

SO JUST HOW FIERCE ARE MERLINS?

Formidable! If you are a small or even medium-sized bird, you need to keep your wits about you. Merlins are largely ‘omni-habitat’ within their range, which includes open country, shrubland, light forest, and grasslands. They are fast, agile and strong. They can fly high, at medium height or at ground level, and are expert in surprise attack and rapid pursuit of prey. If you are a large bird of prey – a red-tailed hawk, perhaps – they may attack you with ferocity. They may not actually be trying to nail you, but to get you out of their territory and their catchment area.

Most of a merlin’s prey is taken in flight, and their speciality is ‘tail-chasing’ terrified birds. Breeding pairs may hunt cooperatively, with one bird flushing prey from cover into the open for its mate to… well, you get the picture – they are clever too. They may even pursue birds that have been flushed out by another bird of prey in the vicinity.

MERLINS AND PHOTOGRAPHERS

This is a slightly fraught relationship, because Merlins do not always pose as one might wish. Sometimes they are hard to see, being fairly well camouflaged unless they choose to ‘go out on a limb’.

And sometimes they don’t play by the rules relating to light and focus, making a clear shot difficult

This photo (2017) was taken on Elbow Cay (north end) by Jan Purdy Hulme Metcalf‎. It’s the first merlin photo from one of the Cays that I have come across.

FALCONRY AND MEDIEVAL HISTORY

Dame Juliana Berners

Merlins were popular birds in medieval English falconry, and according to the 1486 Boke of Seynt Albans, the ‘Marlyon’ was considered the appropriate hunting bird for a lady. This book contained an essay on hunting attributed to Dame Juliana Berners, the prioress of a Priory near St Albans, who, game lady that she must have been, also contributed to one of the earliest treatises on fishing, ‘Fysshynge wyth an Angle‘ (hence, angling).

The Dame’s Manuscript

FURTHER HISTORICAL DIGRESSION (feel free to skip to final para)

While reading up further about Dame Juliana, I came across (wiki-tnx) a wonderful ranking for birds of prey matched to status that I hadn’t encountered before. Here’s the list, from Emperor to Knave / Servant. A Tercel was / is a male falcon, especially a Peregrine or Gyrfalcon. A Musket is a sparrowhawk.

Falconry Table

The Boke of Seynt Albans also contains list of collective nouns for animals and birds, many familiar today such as “gaggle of geese”. There are also humorous collective nouns for different professions, such as a “diligence of messengers”, a “melody of harpers”, a “blast of hunters”, “a subtlety of sergeants”, and a “superfluity of nuns”…

Merlins are still trained for hunting smaller birds; and because of their speed and agility they are used in falconry displays. Despite changing habitat, and a perceptible dip in population from the use of pesticides now banned (such as DDT), the Merlin seems to be holding its own very well 5 centuries after the Boke was written.

AND FINALLY… AUDUBON’S HANDSOME MERLINS

Credits: Becky Marvil (1 & 7); RH (2); Rhonda Pearce (3); Craig Nash (4 & 5); Gerlinde Taurer (6); Prairie Boy; (8) Jan Purdy Hulme Metcalf (2017 photo); (9) wiki – not taken on Abaco, but I liked it; Dame Juliana Berners (1486); Magpie Pickings