fyanimaldiversity: Merlin (Falco columbarius) The darkest…
Merlin (Falco columbarius)
- The darkest subspecies, this black (F.c. suckleyi) has a heavily dark brown streaked belly and nearly solid head.[x]
- This male taiga (F.c.columbarius) is showing off his barred tail and wings. The streaking on his belly is a lighter brown, and he has a faint teardrop marking on his face. His uppersides are a dark steely blue.[x]
- Instead of the grey color, female merlins substitute shades of brown, like this darn brown female taiga.[x]
- Male prairies (F.c. richardsoni) have an even lighter tan streaking on the undersides and face, letting more of the white base color show through.[x]
- The lightest of all American merlins, this female prairie has soft appearance due to the light sandy upperparts. [x]
- A pair of Europeans (F.c. aesalon ), showing off the sexual dimorphism. Female merlins of all subspecies are larger than males. Appearance wise, they look very similar to the American Taigas, though it is very possible that the old world merlins are their own separate species. [x]
- The bright apricot markings on it’s neck and face and lighter blue-grey back makes this male steppe (F.c. pallidus) look particularly colorful.[x]
- Looking at this site, this extremely light Kazakhstani male is probably of the lymani subspecies. Unfortunatly this is the clearest picture of one I could find, the Asian merlins don’t seem to be photographed as often. He has only the slightest hint of brown near his shoulder, his face and neck white. From what I can see, the streaks on his belly are very narrow.[x]
Reposted from http://lies.tumblr.com/post/51400460875.
