Date: 5/18/26 11:33 am From: Joe Buchanan via Tweeters <tweeters...> Subject: [Tweeters] Merlins
Tweeters -
Merlins are amazing predators and capture a wide range of species. During the breeding season it is logical that they regularly take smaller prey, which allows them to make regular trips back to the nest with food. During the nonbreeding season, Merlins that are associated with estuaries in other parts of the Pacific Flyway (e.g., central coastal California; see Page and Whitacre 1975) may focus on smaller sandpipers. In Washington, however, the Dunlin is the primary shorebird prey during winter. Merlins regularly take starlings and blackbirds in agricultural areas during the winter, so prey of that size is well documented although less preferred than smaller species like the House Sparrow. I have seen a Merlin take a Eurasian Collared Dove and in downtown Olympia in the 1980s, a Merlin famously targeted and captured Rock Pigeons. The latter two prey species are clearly at the upper end of the size range for a Merlin!
In the breeding season, I have seen Merlins with chickadees, sparrows, Cedar Waxwings, etc., but witnesses near nests have reported seeing Steller's Jay fledglings as prey items. Merlins are perhaps surprisingly tenacious predators.
