Pale kestrel? Or merlin?

[Beth Partin]

I was in Washington Park early Sunday afternoon and spotted a small falcon that looked too pale to be a kestrel. It had the facial markings of a kestrel and a pale rufous wash on its tail in some lighting, but its back was mostly brown and its breast and belly pale and only lightly streaked on the sides. It occasionally spread its tail but didn't bob it.

Two other birders saw a pale line over the bird's eye, which in addition to other markings led them to identify it as a Prairie Merlin, but I never did see the line through my old binos.

The bird was in trees on the west side of Washington Park, near the garden that is west of the ditch.

I marked it as a merlin on my ebird list, but I'm still not sure of that ID and would love to hear from other birders. According to Sibley, the juveniles look like adults. Maybe it's a late bloomer?

Beth

Denver, Colorado

 

[ridgw...@gmail.com]

Hi Beth,

When you mention that this bird had the facial markings of an American Kestral, does that mean that you saw two vertical bars on its face?  A prairie merlin wouldn’t show that pattern.  How about the tail; did it show any gray bands?  One additional comment:  It is okay to identify a bird you are unsure of as “falcon sp.” in eBird.  Too many people feel they have to identify every bird to down to the species or even subspecies level; unfortunately that isn’t always possible.  It sounds like an interesting falcon, hopefully someone will see it and photograph it.

Don Marsh

Ridgway, C,

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[Beth Partin]

Hi, Don. Yes, the bird had two dark vertical bars on its face. Its tail had brownish bands; I suppose they might have been gray. But the overall impression I got of the bird's body was ivory with light tan streaks along its sides.

Another birder did mention that she took some pictures, so perhaps she will share them with this list.

I need to correct something I said in my original post. The bird was on the east side of Wash Park, in trees east of the ditch.

Beth Partin (she, her)

https://beth-partin.pixels.com/art

https://www.linkedin.com/in/bethpartin

 

[Noah Brinkman]

Hello Beth,

I did some research and found this checklist from Washington Park on Sunday. This checklist includes a female American Kestrel with a photo. Perhaps this is your bird?

https://ebird.org/checklist/S123470559?_gl=1*xq7qqi*_ga*NTI5Mjc3OTY3LjE2Njk4Mjc1NTM.*_ga_QR4NVXZ8BM*MTY3MDI3MjY0OC43LjEuMTY3MDI3MjcyMy41NC4wLjA.&_ga=2.222181784.1658905845.1670256479-529277967.1669827553