The smell of pine pitch was heavy and sweet in the air as we sat watching through the screen of trees. Light breezes tempered the sun’s warmth, tossing pine boughs gently. It seemed a day made to order for watching merlins.

These dynamic little aerialists were a treat that I never before had had the opportunity to observe. In the past, I had been lucky to catch a fleeting glimpse of one as it streaked through the air. Now, I was able to observe not one, but two of them, as they engaged in lengthy courtship displays over the course of a week.

It seemed the female was the one that usually initiated things, first by a series of long, high-pitched calls. She was answered by the male, whose calls were more abrupt and even higher-pitched. After a couple of minutes of this, the female flew to another tree, followed by the male; they then mated. Afterward, they continued to call back and forth while keeping their distance from each other. Once they became silent, I noticed one of them – more often the female – would fly to what I thought was the nest tree, while the other remained in a tree nearby. I have high hopes they will successfully breed and raise young, but only time will tell.

Merlins belong to the subfamily falconinae, which includes the peregrine falcon, the prairie falcon, the gyrfalcon and the kestrel. I had always thought, erroneously, that they were similar to kestrels. Merlins are comparable in size – being only slightly bigger than kestrels, but here the similarity ends. Unlike kestrels, merlins have a swift, direct way of flying. Their hunting habits more closely resemble those of the bigger peregrines. Whereas kestrels will most often take insects, mice, small snakes and occasionally other birds, the merlin’s main prey is birds, sometimes as large as pigeons. This is no mean feat considering pigeons are as large as, or sometimes larger than, the merlin.

Merlins resemble peregrines in coloration; however, their “sideburns” facial pattern is much fainter and less obvious than the peregrine’s bold black markings. Females are dark brown over the head and back, while males are a slate gray. Both have brown streaking on the chest and stomach.

I’ll keep you updated on the status of the merlin family in future articles.

Known returned migrants: yellow-rumped warbler, solitary vireo, pine warbler, hermit thrush, chipping sparrow, snipe, broad-winged hawk, osprey, bluebird, great blue heron, killdeer, tree swallow, song sparrow, white-throated sparrow, bittern, northern parula warbler, Savannah, Lincoln and swamp sparrows, red-winged blackbird, grackle, woodcock, kestrel, meadowlark.

Chris Corio, a volunteer at Fields Pond Nature Center, can be reached at fieldspond@juno.com.