Date: 5/18/26 11:13 pm From: Robert O'Brien via Tweeters <tweeters...> Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Merlins
Moving forward across the Atlantic and a few centuries advanced: JJA (John
James Audubon, French) was impressed enough with *"Le Petit Caporal"* that
he illustrated it twice in his two works:
- *Common Names: Merlin, Pigeon Hawk, Little Corporal*
- *Description: This illustration features a striking male Merlin
perched on a branch, having just captured a small bird.*
- *Details: Audubon named it "Le Petit Caporal" (Little Corporal) in
homage to Napoleon Bonaparte, a nod to the falcon's fierce, combative, and
bold demeanor. You can view the full image via the National Audubon Society
<https://www.audubon.org/art/birds-of-america/le-petit-caporal>. *
*2. Pigeon Hawk (Plate 92 / 1830)*
- *Common Names: Pigeon Hawk*
- *Description: This plate features both a male and a female Merlin. The
male is depicted in a high-speed dive, while the female is perched above
clutching her prey.*
- *Details: This composition vividly captures the aggressive, mid-air
predatory nature of the species. You can view the original artwork through
the National Audubon Society
<https://www.audubon.org/art/birds-of-america/pigeon-hawk>. *
*(Note: In the later, smaller Royal Octavo editions of his book, these two
illustrations were re-designated as Plate 75 and Plate 21, respectively).*
*----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*
Currently, in spite of the spike of recent splits, the Merlin is still a
single species worldwide, but more than 10 subspecies recognized. The
Pacific NW is so fortunate to host perhaps the most spectacular, the Black
Merlin (Falco columbarius suckleyi) eBird has them occurring as far south
as San Francisco.
On Mon, May 18, 2026 at 6:17 PM Rob Faucett via Tweeters <
<tweeters...> wrote:
> Origins for both are surprisingly simliar ca. 1130.
>
> So now we have a raptor called merlin back to 1180, getting pretty close
> to the wizard’s 1130 debut. But considering merlins were historically used
> in falconry, which dates to possibly as far back as 2000 BC, it seems
> likely that people were discussing merlins (as *esmerilun* or *smiril*)
> long before Monmouth transformed Myrddin the Wild into Merlin the Wizard.
> We just don’t know for sure. But if this seems confusing, here is what we
> do know:
>
> -
>
> The shared name of the bird and the wizard is pure coincidence. Merlin
> and the merlin have completely separate and unrelated origins.
> -
>
> Their modern(ish) names appear in writing, in Monmouth’s *Prophetiæ
> Merlini *and in early Germanic texts about falconry, at about the same
> time in the 1100s.
> -
>
> The actual species we now call* Falco columbarius* was snatching
> pigeons from the sky and quail from the ground thousands of years before we
> humans started writing about wizards (or writing at all, for that matter!).
>
>
>
>
> --
> Rob Faucett
> Seattle, WA
> (206) 619-5569
>
> On May 18, 2026, at 4:01 PM, Tom Benedict via Tweeters <
> <tweeters...> wrote:
>
> According to All About Birds
> <https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Merlin/overview>: >
> "The name “Merlin” comes from esmerillon, the old French name for the
> species. Merlins used to be called “pigeon hawks” because in flight they
> look somewhat pigeon-like. Their species name, columbarius, is also a
> reference to pigeons.”
>
> Tom Benedict
> Seahurst, WA
>
> On May 18, 2026, at 15:33, Dennis Paulson via Tweeters <
> <tweeters...> wrote:
>
> Ahh, but was that because they hunted pigeons or because they were about
> the size of one? The name *columbarius* I guess doesn’t really answer
> that question. It would be interesting to know what they knew about the
> species when it was named by Linnaeus in 1758.
>
> And how does Merlin relate to Merlin the Magician? Wikipedia makes it
> clear that the two names have entirely different origins!
>
> Dennis Paulson
> Seattle
>
> On May 18, 2026, at 3:09 PM, HAL MICHAEL via Tweeters <
> <tweeters...> wrote:
>
> The common name for Merlin used to be Pigeon Hawk.
>
> Hal Michael
> Olympia WA
> 360-459-4005
> 360-791-7702 (C)
> <ucd880...>
>
>
>
> On 05/18/2026 11:25 AM PDT Joe Buchanan via Tweeters <
> <tweeters...> wrote:
>
>
> 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.
>
> Joe Buchanan
> Olympia
> <jlrj...>
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