Merlin (Falco columbarius) [XC195555]
by Thomas Magarian from Meziadin Lake Provincial Park, British Columbia, Canada (call)
Merlin (Falco columbarius) [XC679893]
by Lars Edenius from North Shore Boat Launch, Wells Township (near Wells), Delta County, Michigan, United States (call)
Nest
On the ground, in heather or bracken, sometimes in an old crows nest in a low tree.
Eggs (Guide)
4 - 5; cream with heavy red-brown freckles; ellipsoidal. Incubation: about 30 days; by both sexes.
Subspecies
Has been allied with Red-headed Falcon (Falco chicquera), but no clear relationship.
The following 9 subspecies are recognised:
subaesalon Brehm, CL, 1827 - Iceland.
aesalon Tunstall, 1771 - Northern Eurasia, from Faeroes east to central Siberia.
insignis (Clark, AH, 1907) - Siberia, east of R Yenisey to R Kolyma.
pacificus (Stegmann, 1929) - Soviet Far east, including Sakhalin I.
pallidus (Sushkin, 1900) - Steppes of Asia, from near Aral Sea to Altai Mts.
lymani Bangs, 1913 - Mountains of central Asia, in Turkestan, eastern Russia, north-western China and Mongolia.
suckleyi Ridgway, 1874 - Pacific coast of North America, from Alaska and British Columbia to northern Washington.
columbarius Linnaeus, 1758 - North America, except Pacific coast and Great Plains.
richardsonii Ridgway, 1871 - Great Plains of North America, from central Alberta south to Wyoming.
The Reader's Digest Book of British Birds 1980, 3rd Edition, Drive Publications Ltd ISBN 0 340 25308 8
Birds in Colour Campbell, B., 1960, Penguin Books Ltd
The Pocket Guide to Nest and Eggs Fitter, R.S.R., 1954, Collins
RSPB Handbook of British Birds Holden, P., Cleeves, T., 2002, A & C Black ISBN 0 7136 5713 8
Birds of Britain and Europe Sterry, P., et al., 2001, AA Publishing ISBN 0 7495 3068 5
The Popular Handbook of British Birds Hollom, P.A.D., 1973, H.F. & G. Witherby Ltd ISBN 0 85493 002 7