Peregrine Falcon in back yard

Pongo · 07-04-2009, 03:41 PM

I got a picture of it too.
Man the little bugger eats alot.

Animal · 07-24-2009, 11:16 AM

where's the picture?

MiniD · 07-24-2009, 03:30 PM

SWEEET. Cough up the pictures.

Pongo · 11-11-2009, 06:26 PM

Right after this picture was taken, the young started flying and we had 4 in the neighborhood..
They were right around here until the young where capable, then they spread out, but I was still seeing them in the distance occasionally a week or so ago.

MiniD · 11-14-2009, 09:26 AM

How do you know thats a Peregrine?

MiniD · 11-14-2009, 09:37 AM

I did some looking through The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Western North America and I think that's a merlin. It looks to have a sparrow, which means the hawk is pretty small comparitively. Once birds leave the nest, they are full grown. They fill in a little, but don't get bigger. Sibley shows a Pacific Black Merlin that looks just like that that they say nests in BC and southern Alaska. The big give-away is the bands on the tail. Peregrins have multiple bans spaced close together. The merlins have 3 bands on their tail, just like that one.

Pongo · 11-14-2009, 09:45 PM

Its pretty screwed up by its shadows mini.
It has very bright yellow markings arround its eyes.
My golf buddy who is a red neck bird expert was sure we couldnt have a peregrine falcon in our yard either. But it certainly is.
It is the size of a crow, that one is one of the parents.

Pongo · 11-14-2009, 09:55 PM

MiniD · 11-15-2009, 07:34 AM

Perigrines and Merlins are pretty much identical around the eyes. The merlin has a yellow patch between the beak and eye too. I'm still going to by the size on that... A perigrine is bigger than a cooper's hawk. I have pictures of a cooper's hawk devouring a mourning dove (that's twice as big as that sparrow) and the proportions look similar. The bird just looks too small to be a Peregrine.

MiniD · 11-15-2009, 07:37 AM

BTW... seeing the children hunting is a bit of a telling tale too. Peregrine offspring are notoriously new millenium birds. They'd stay at home in the basement playing WoW till they were 50 if they could. The parents actually have to abandon them to get them to hunt and feed themselves.

Pongo · 11-15-2009, 08:40 AM

The merlin pictures I found had no yellow like that around the eyes, and my book says the Perigine is crow sized.
We never saw the young until they were nearly full sized. So they meet that paramater.

falcon

MiniD · 11-15-2009, 04:42 PM

Look at the tails in both of those pictures. Then look at your picture.

MiniD · 11-15-2009, 04:43 PM

BTW.. it won't be a common merlin. Like I said above, it's going to be the "Pacific Black Merlin".

Pongo · 11-15-2009, 09:42 PM

Well
Your right, it doesn't have the dark markings going down its cheek from the eye that all PFs seem to have.
And it certainly nested in a tree. Which seems to be more of a merlin thing then a PF thing.
The size and darkness of the yellow around the eye seems to vary quite a bit from bird to bird, with both species able to have quite pronounced versions of it.
Thanks for the lesson.

MiniD · 11-19-2009, 07:49 AM

Size is always the most difficult to gage... especially with species that have little difference outside of their size (Cooper's hawk and Sharp-shinned hawk are a good example). Combine it with shadows and size gets even more difficult to gage. The tail is one of the easier identifying marks on the bird.

We have a Merlin that hunts on campus. I got a picture of him grooming himself after taking a bath, but it was with my old el-cheapo lens. I think I have it uploaded. The merlins here definately look different than what you have pictured.

MiniD · 11-30-2009, 05:58 AM

BTW... here's what the merlin's look like around here:

rattfink · 12-04-2009, 11:55 AM

AWESOMENESS!!

Pongo · 12-05-2009, 05:14 PM

That looks like a cute little budgy compared to the thing I am seeing.
Are you feeding it?

MiniD · 12-06-2009, 10:22 AM

That is at work. There's no need as there is plenty of food for the rapters running around in the wetlands. I've seen him a few times since I took that photo, but always at a distance. He had just taken a bath and was drying himself when I got those. We have merlins, redtails, cooper's hawks, sharp-shinned hawks and harriers running around at work. I have not gotten a picture of a harrier yet because they're always in flight and you never see them coming (hug the ground).

I do feed birds in the backyard and pigeons have learned to go after what's left. The result is an every-other-day pigeon slaughter by the neighborhood cooper's hawk. It seems they like sesame stuffed squab.

07-04-2009, 03:41 PM	#1
Pongo Familiar Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 1,851	Peregrine Falcon in back yard I got a picture of it too. Man the little bugger eats alot.

07-24-2009, 11:16 AM	#2
Animal High Lord King Pimp Daddy of the FDBs Join Date: May 2005 Location: PR Posts: 2,932	where's the picture? __________________ 1284: Pope Innocent III predicted the Second Coming for this year. He based his prediction on the date of the inception of the Muslim faith, and then added 666 years to that.

11-11-2009, 06:26 PM	#4
Pongo Familiar Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 1,851	DOH. have to check back here more often Right after this picture was taken, the young started flying and we had 4 in the neighborhood.. They were right around here until the young where capable, then they spread out, but I was still seeing them in the distance occasionally a week or so ago.

11-14-2009, 09:45 PM	#7
Pongo Familiar Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 1,851	shadows Its pretty screwed up by its shadows mini. It has very bright yellow markings arround its eyes. My golf buddy who is a red neck bird expert was sure we couldnt have a peregrine falcon in our yard either. But it certainly is. It is the size of a crow, that one is one of the parents.

11-14-2009, 09:55 PM	#8
Pongo Familiar Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 1,851	yellow eye

07-24-2009, 03:30 PM	#3
MiniD FDB Join Date: May 2005 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 6,263	SWEEET. Cough up the pictures.

11-14-2009, 09:26 AM	#5
MiniD FDB Join Date: May 2005 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 6,263	How do you know thats a Peregrine?

11-14-2009, 09:37 AM	#6
MiniD FDB Join Date: May 2005 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 6,263	I did some looking through The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Western North America and I think that's a merlin. It looks to have a sparrow, which means the hawk is pretty small comparitively. Once birds leave the nest, they are full grown. They fill in a little, but don't get bigger. Sibley shows a Pacific Black Merlin that looks just like that that they say nests in BC and southern Alaska. The big give-away is the bands on the tail. Peregrins have multiple bans spaced close together. The merlins have 3 bands on their tail, just like that one.

11-15-2009, 07:34 AM	#9
MiniD FDB Join Date: May 2005 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 6,263	Perigrines and Merlins are pretty much identical around the eyes. The merlin has a yellow patch between the beak and eye too. I'm still going to by the size on that... A perigrine is bigger than a cooper's hawk. I have pictures of a cooper's hawk devouring a mourning dove (that's twice as big as that sparrow) and the proportions look similar. The bird just looks too small to be a Peregrine.

11-15-2009, 07:37 AM	#10
MiniD FDB Join Date: May 2005 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 6,263	BTW... seeing the children hunting is a bit of a telling tale too. Peregrine offspring are notoriously new millenium birds. They'd stay at home in the basement playing WoW till they were 50 if they could. The parents actually have to abandon them to get them to hunt and feed themselves.

11-15-2009, 08:40 AM	#11
Pongo Familiar Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 1,851	The merlin pictures I found had no yellow like that around the eyes, and my book says the Perigine is crow sized. We never saw the young until they were nearly full sized. So they meet that paramater. falcon Last edited by Pongo; 11-15-2009 at 08:46 AM.

11-15-2009, 04:42 PM	#12
MiniD FDB Join Date: May 2005 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 6,263	Look at the tails in both of those pictures. Then look at your picture.

11-15-2009, 04:43 PM	#13
MiniD FDB Join Date: May 2005 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 6,263	BTW.. it won't be a common merlin. Like I said above, it's going to be the "Pacific Black Merlin".

11-15-2009, 09:42 PM	#14
Pongo Familiar Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 1,851	Well Your right, it doesn't have the dark markings going down its cheek from the eye that all PFs seem to have. And it certainly nested in a tree. Which seems to be more of a merlin thing then a PF thing. The size and darkness of the yellow around the eye seems to vary quite a bit from bird to bird, with both species able to have quite pronounced versions of it. Thanks for the lesson.

11-19-2009, 07:49 AM	#15
MiniD FDB Join Date: May 2005 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 6,263	Size is always the most difficult to gage... especially with species that have little difference outside of their size (Cooper's hawk and Sharp-shinned hawk are a good example). Combine it with shadows and size gets even more difficult to gage. The tail is one of the easier identifying marks on the bird. We have a Merlin that hunts on campus. I got a picture of him grooming himself after taking a bath, but it was with my old el-cheapo lens. I think I have it uploaded. The merlins here definately look different than what you have pictured.

12-04-2009, 11:55 AM	#17
rattfink Familiar Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: God TX Posts: 530	AWESOMENESS!!

11-30-2009, 05:58 AM	#16
MiniD FDB Join Date: May 2005 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 6,263	BTW... here's what the merlin's look like around here: Attached Images

12-05-2009, 05:14 PM	#18
Pongo Familiar Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 1,851	That looks like a cute little budgy compared to the thing I am seeing. Are you feeding it?

12-06-2009, 10:22 AM	#19
MiniD FDB Join Date: May 2005 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 6,263	That is at work. There's no need as there is plenty of food for the rapters running around in the wetlands. I've seen him a few times since I took that photo, but always at a distance. He had just taken a bath and was drying himself when I got those. We have merlins, redtails, cooper's hawks, sharp-shinned hawks and harriers running around at work. I have not gotten a picture of a harrier yet because they're always in flight and you never see them coming (hug the ground). I do feed birds in the backyard and pigeons have learned to go after what's left. The result is an every-other-day pigeon slaughter by the neighborhood cooper's hawk. It seems they like sesame stuffed squab.

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