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://fineartamerica.com/profiles/beth-partin.html> https://www.linkedin.com/in/bethpartin On Mon, Dec 5, 2022 at 10:28 AM <ridgwayb...@gmail.com> wrote: > 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, > > > > *From:* cobirds@googlegroups.com <cobirds@googlegroups.com> *On Behalf Of > *Beth Partin > *Sent:* Sunday, December 4, 2022 4:47 PM > *To:* Colorado Birds <cobirds@googlegroups.com> > *Subject:* [cobirds] Pale kestrel? Or merlin? > > > > 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 > > > > > > -- > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "Colorado Birds" group. > To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en?hl=en > * All posts should be signed with the poster's full name and city. Include > bird species and location in the subject line when appropriate > * Join Colorado Field Ornithologists https://cobirds.org/CFO/Membership/ > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Colorado Birds" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CADMvWSYe_C6vQY8eyeJFnrL4C8H2SOdvDbogYG0X5r6hWB4idg%40mail.gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CADMvWSYe_C6vQY8eyeJFnrL4C8H2SOdvDbogYG0X5r6hWB4idg%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en?hl=en * All posts should be signed with the poster's full name and city. Include bird species and location in the subject line when appropriate * Join Colorado Field Ornithologists https://cobirds.org/CFO/Membership/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CADMvWSavcddFA5JtFiMjy-1Qotpu6ZFeTdWMkxrrwdLpesqoog%40mail.gmail.com.
