| Merlin Identification Tips |
| (Credit: U. S. Geological Survey) |
| General
Information - Short, dark, hooked beak - Small, long-tailed hawk - Long, pointed wings, broad at the base - Thin, pale black mustache mark - Underwings checkered with black and white - Juveniles and immature females like adult female - Three distinct races occur in North America |
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| Taiga
Merlin (F. c. columbarius): - Breeds in northern Canadian boreal forests from Newfoundland to Alaska and winters in the southern United States; migrants occur frequently along both coasts but are rare inland - Flight feathers dark above - Faint dark mustache mark Adult male - Dark blue-gray back, paler than suckleyi but darker than richardsoni - Dark tail has wide, complete, blue-gray bands Adult female - Dark, brownish back - Brown tail has narrow, complete buffy bands |
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| Prairie
Merlin (F. c. richardsonii): - Breeder and resident in prairies of south-central Canada and the upper Midwest of the United States with some moving south to New Mexico - Large spots on flight feathers visible from above - Lacks mustache mark Adult male - Pale supercilium - Pale brown cheeks - Pale blue-gray back - Blue gray tail with narrow black bands Adult female - Pale supercilium - Pale brown cheeks - Pale brown back - Complete white bands on brown tail |
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| Black
Merlin (F.c.suckleyi): - Resident in upper Pacific Coast forests from British Colombia to Alaska, occasionally straying to New Mexico in winter - Very dark back, wings and head - Dark mustache mark - Flight feathers dark above Adult male - Blue-gray cast seen in good light - Black tail with incomplete blue-gray bands Adult female - Dark tail with very faint tail bands |
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| Similar
species American Kestrel is similar in size and shape, but has two mustache marks, reddish-brown about head, narrower wings and lacks checkerboard pattern of underwings. Peregrine is much larger with a much bolder mustache mark and not so strongly checkered underwings. Prairie Falcon has a bolder mustache mark, white between the eye and the mustache mark and black axillars. |
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