ML340045041

Behaketaren xehetasunak

Changing to diurnal raptor sp — Accipiter/Falcon, per eBird request, updated 2021/05/23. Could be Cooper’s Hawk or other species. Original notes: Palest Merlin I've ever seen. See photos (dim light, sunset). Falcon shape, faint markings on face, brownish markings and not colorful like a Kestrel. Sent this photo another birder (HLG Jr) who agreed on MERLIN: "Looks like the palest Merlin I've ever seen! Even looked at Google images, and almost all are more heavily streaked than this. But, it looks like I see the tell-tale dark sideburn with a pale patch behind it. The head pattern just doesn't speak Accipiter to me -- it says a falcon to me. So I agree on Merlin. Sharp-shinned would not pose on bare branches like this, and Cooper's would, but just isn't long enough for a Coop."