Observations of the Merlin From Unity, Saskatchewan

The effects of management practices on grassland birds—Merlin (<i>Falco columbarius</i>)

“…In the Great Plains, Merlins prefer open grasslands for hunting and native or planted tree groves for nesting (in former nests of other species). Merlins inhabit shortgrass and mixed-grass prairies, tame grasslands, pastures, hayland, shrubsteppe, woodland, wetland, cropland, and urban habitats, especially where these habitats have adjacent riparian woodland (Bent, 1961;Fox, 1964;Ellis, 1976;Hodson, 1976Hodson, , 1978Oliphant and Thompson, 1976;Oliphant and McTaggart, 1977;Smith, 1978;Houston and Schmidt, 1981;Young, 1981;Becker, 1984;Oliphant and Haug, 1985;Dekker, 1988;Warkentin and James, 1988;Sieg and Becker, 1990;Sodhi, 1991a;Sodhi and others, 1992;Houston and Hodson, 1997;Minnesota Ornithologists' Union, 2002;Bildstein and Therrien, 2018;Boal, 2018). Historically, Merlins inhabited rolling plains that contained small groves of cottonwoods (Populus species [spp.…”

Effects of management practices on grassland birds: Merlin

“…In the Great Plains, Merlins prefer open grasslands for hunting and native or planted tree groves for nesting. They inhabit shortgrass and mixed-grass prairies, tame grasslands, pastures, hayland, shrubsteppe, woodland, wetland, cropland, and urban habitats, especially where these habitats have adjacent riparian woodland (Bent 1961;Fox 1964;Ellis 1976;Hodson 1976Hodson , 1978Oliphant and Thompson 1976;Oliphant and McTaggart 1977;Smith 1978;Houston and Schmidt 1981;Young 1981;Becker 1984;Oliphant and Haug 1985;Becker and Sieg 1988;Dekker 1988; Warkentin and James 1988;Sieg and Becker 1990;Sodhi 1991;Sodhi et al 1992;Houston and Hodson 1997;MOU 2002). Historically, Merlins inhabited rolling plains that contained small groves of Populus (cottonwoods, aspen) and other deciduous trees that were used for nesting (Bent 1961).…”

“…Deciduous trees and shrubs that have supported Merlin nests include maple (Acer sp.) (Hodson 1976, Houston andHodson 1997), box elder (Acer negundo) (Fox 1964), aspen (Bent 1961, Fox 1964, Young 1981, Houston and Hodson 1997, poplar (Bent 1961;Hodson 1976;Oliphant andThompson 1976, 1978;Smith 1978), black poplar (Bent 1961), cottonwood (Houston and Hodson 1997), birch (Betula sp.) (Fox 1964), green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica) (Houston and Hodson 1997), elm (Ulmus sp.)…”

“…(Fox 1964), green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica) (Houston and Hodson 1997), elm (Ulmus sp.) (Houston and Hodson 1997), willow (Bent 1961;Fox 1964;Hodson 1976;Oliphant andThompson 1976, 1978;Young 1981), and chokecherry (Prunus virginiana) (Houston and Hodson 1997). Nest trees used by 20 pairs of Merlins in Edmonton were at least 35 yr old (Smith 1978).…”

“…Nested in crow nests built in mature spruce trees; a high reproductive rate indicated the urban environment provided prime habitat with ample corvid nest sites in spruce trees and abundant prey, primarily House Sparrows (Passer domesticus); hunted in urban habitat, and grasslands and croplands adjacent to the city Warkentin and James 1988 Saskatchewan Urban Nested in crow nests in conifers primarily and showed a strong tendency to avoid nesting in magpie nests; used crow nests during 54 of 58 nesting attempts; average nest site characteristics at 58 active Merlin nests were 12.5 m nest tree height, 40.6 cm nest tree diameter, 8.9 m nest height, 1.9% shrub coverage, 57.2 m distance from nest tree to nearest building, 22.4 m distance to nearest road, and 35.6 m distance to nearest light pole. Young 1981 Saskatchewan Woodland One pair nested in an old magpie nest built 3 m above ground in a stunted aspen on a bluff overlooking an 11-km-long glacial outwash valley devoid of trees except along spring-fed ravines and north-facing slopes; a second pair nested in an old magpie nest built 3.7 m above the ground in a 0.5-km 2 aspenand-willow thicket in an area composed of stunted trees, including aspens and willows, and sagebrush *In an effort to standardize terminology among studies, various descriptors were used to denote the management or type of habitat. "Idle" used as a modifier (e.g., idle tallgrass) denotes undisturbed or unmanaged (e.g., not burned, mowed, or grazed) areas.…”