IBRC 45-B-11

IDAHO BIRD RECORDS COMMITTEE
RARE BIRD REPORT FORM

SPECIES: Merlin
HOW MANY: 3 one adult, 2 young

REPORTER: Paul Sieracki e 77 lincoln Priest River, ID 83856 2971136(208)
REPORTER EMAIL: paul.sieracki@gmail.com
OTHER OBSERVERS: same

DATE REPORT PREPARED: July 16, 2011
DATE SIGHTING OCCURRED: July 15, 2011

LOCALITY OF OBSERVATION: Preist River, Idaho, near the Senior Center. 4 th and Jackson.
HABITAT: suburban, a patch of mature ponderosa pines occuring on a block in town. Encompassing about 1/3 acre with homes underneath the trees.
CONDITIONS: 5+ minutes, multiple times over the spring and early summer. Ideal conditions, the young birds were tame and perched on power poles. I saw them from 75+ feet or so..

DID YOU TAKE NOTES?: No, not at all
DID YOU CONSULT FIELD GUIDE OR OTHER REFERENCES?: No, not at all
WHAT GUIDE(S) OR REFERENCE(S) DID YOU CONSULT?: Sibleys in the past but not for this obervation.

DESCRIPTION: I have had multiple opportunities to id these birds since they are local nesters. Birds were all dark backed, with bold stripes up and down the belly with a falcon silhouette. They seemed slightly larger than a kestrel.
BEHAVIOR: I have heard the young begging for food with a call similar to the adults rapid kikikik..etc. The local violet green swallows alert me to their presence and I can hear them calling from my residence and see them frequently there. The adults hunt sometimes by circling individual or small groups of large ponderosa pines.

HOW AND WHEN DID YOU POSITIVELY IDENTIFY THE BIRD, AND WHAT CLINCHED THE IDENTIFICATION FOR YOU? Dark falcon with dark stipes on its belly, dark head and back. A very distinctive rapid kikikiki call. Falcon silhouette, not long tailed like an accipiter.
HOW DID YOU ELIMINATE SIMILAR SPECIES, AND WHAT WERE THEY? No breeding birds in the area are at all similar to the merlin to any birder with some experience,maybe a sharp-shinned or cooper's hawk...

EXPERIENCE WITH THIS SPECIES (AND SIMILAR SPECIES): this might be the same merlin pair that nested last year a few blocks away. I do not have a camera at the moment so I cannot submit a photograph.
GENERAL BIRDING EXPERIENCE: good, 35 years experience.

WERE PHOTO(S), VIDEO, AND/OR AUDIO OBTAINED BY YOU?: None