Merlin (Falco columbarius) [XC666137]
by Valerie Heemstra from Port Townsend, Jefferson County, Washington, United States (alarm call)
Merlin (Falco columbarius) [XC753443]
by Tayler Brooks from Les Laurentides Regional County Municipality (near Val-David), Laurentides, Quebec, Canada (flight 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