Falconry: Kestrels VS Merlins
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 ธ.ค. 2021
- This falconry video compares the strengths, weaknesses, flight styles and care of American Kestrels and Merlins (and a little also about Eurasian kestrels. This video is meant to teach about these differences and to help falconers be better informed about flying either species.
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I saw a wild merlin working a relatively small murmuration of starlings, and that was awesome. He just kept hearding them and diving through, really awesome to see
I have never heard of kestrel. They look very agile, a didn't know merlin were hunters. Great video.
Decades ago in the U.S. we called these birds sparrow hawks.
Back in the late 60’s before my dad died we had Kestrel’s, Merlin’s and Prairie Falcons. I still have hoods and jesses. Thanks for the memories!
Thank you very much for sharing! Very useful information in my case, im in eastern europe, Georgia and i am starting microhawking and planning between eurasian kestrel and merlin falcon. Im gonna go with kestrel first but will surely plan to fly a merlin. Thank you!
So informative. Thank you so much.
"A merlin does better if they have some space." (at 28:20) It's true that merlins prefer space between them and their prey when hunting. I have flown many merlins and the best results are when I release the bird at least several hundred yards away from a flock of feeding starlings. However, it's not because the merlin needs to build up speed over a long distance--they're at maximum speed after a few yards. Merlins use the distance to calculate a course to ambush unsuspecting prey. They fly low against the ground along a hedgerow parallel to the flock to conceal their presence and then break 90 degrees to intercept the feeding flock. I've seen this happen time after time and they're much more successful than if I were to slip them close to the flock, whereby the merlins typically just fly off to sit in a tree and assess the situation. Meanwhile the starlings have seen her and all take flight and the merlin doesn't want to tail chase.
Love it Ben as a new subscriber it's so cool to be here been a birder for 40 years ..and birds of prey are my passion...!!!!!
Came to learn about Merlins and you delivered
I have always been a fan of falconry since i was a kid, now i have a cockatiel 😄
Thank you Ben great production
extremely informative
I fly a European Kestrel to the lure. One day I'd like to fly a merlin on feather but that'll probably be in a long while. I've only seen one merlin being flown to the lure and it blew me away.
Aboslutely agree on the lethargy of them though. They're very much "Still hunting" birds and will want to perch up and watch for prey they can ambush most of the time. There also seems to be a massive divide between captive bred kestrels and wild ones. Wild kestrels are, for want of a better term, completely insane and think they're three times as big as they are. Captive bred ones though tend to be fairly lazy and extremely difficult to hunt with, as you described. They can be spectacular lure birds; I knew one guy who would get a hundred stoops in a session with a litle male. But they tend to follow their instincts and go and pitch often which can be extremely frustrating. Also from experience they tend to lose interest in the lure when they reach about five or six years old and are then only really interested in flying point to point, which is a shame.
I suspect because of the way they hunt and the fact they can see ultraviolet light from rodent urine trails so they can see which way their prey is going to bolt nd plan ahead that european kestrels might be slightly more intelligent than merlins and bigger falcons. So they learn over time that they don't actually *need* to do much work because you aren't going to let them starve. Given raptors are all about energy conservation and doing as little as possible when needs be it sorta fits that they then won't want to do much (naturally the Harris' is a bit of an anomaly on this line of thinking but it's also a group hunter which provides motivation other than simply hunting for itself).
Thanx Ben
Your videos are always so entertaining, yet super informative, thank you 🤗 I'm absolutely in love with Merlins! I'm currently studying for my hunting & falconer's exam here in Europe, would you say that a Merlin would be hard to handle for a beginner?
Merlins train pretty easily. The biggest thing is just being so deeply dedicated to proper weight management and daily charting of it, and also having telemetry of some type. Other than that, I think merlins are pretty easy to train. They will keep you on your toes and teach you a ton, but from initial training to actually catching game, it is fairly easy to train them and have success.
@@benwoodrufffalconry we are all still waiting on the ferruginous video ben! Haha
I've enjoyed your videos. Thank you.
I'm really curious whether anyone has ever trained a wild (non-captive wild, never captured) bird to hunt with them.
Maybe going out a few times a week, or once a week, or maybr even daily, to where they live, and flying them to the lure, or flushing game, or even bringing them some game.
There are probably laws, at least in some areas, but maybe at some time or in some place there weren't any.
I once tamed and trained some seagulls. It didn't take long. I just gradually got them to keep coming closer and closer with small pieces of bread, until they were literally walking up my legs and stomach and chest (I was lying down on the beach) to take the bread out of my hand.
I didn't time it, but it was less than half an hour, probably closer to fifteen minutes.
I did the same with some Canada geese that had never been around humans before.
So why couldn't something similar happen with raptors?
(Note: this is just interesting to me. I'm not planning to actually do it with raptors. I'm just interested in what people might have done along these lines with raptors.)
It would be so cool to hunt with a wild pack of Harris hawks this way. It is cool to imagine it or visualize it, or to know about what people have tried.
9:15 he vibin' 😂
I would love to hear some info on mews. I have built mine myself and am very proud of it, but I am always looking for improvements! Maybe recommendations for specific species!
Is it possible to make a video about putting a backpack mount on a bird? It would be much appreciated :)
Hey! I recognize that red tail. 🤔
Great video. Thank you
Thanks for the video Ben there was a Merlin near my house that I saw hunting every morning but I haven’t gone to see if she’s still there
I'm not into falconry by any means, I'm here just to look at and listen about cute little fluffy birds.
And, as a guy who moved from Central Asia to Western Siberia, all birds of prey for me are cute little fluffy birds. Even kite and eagle-owl. You're doing a realy great job with your youtube channel.
Can you discuss how you get your merlins to go after collared doves?
Can you give any insight as to how I can get a Merlin? I can't seem to find any breeders in the states. I live in Indiana, and don't believe we have Merlins. Would love to fly one
I think that the least "falcon" falcon in the United States are the Cara Caras. Great video though! I like both kestrels and merlins and am interested in eventually flying both.
Enjoyed that. I always do.
What about Hobbies Ben? Does anyone use them in the USA? I know theyr only seen occasionally in the US but does anyone use imported or captive bred hobbies? I would love to hear your opinions on them.
American Kestrels are not kestrels. They have the same convergent evolution as kestrels, but genetically they are more closely related to larger falcons such as the aplomado, prairie, and peregrine.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_kestrel
We called them “sparrow hawks” where I grew up. Of course, they’re not true “hawks” either ;) I’ve always thought of them as the ‘New World’ kestrel, vs the Old World ones, but you’re right, most accurately they are true American falcons.
So which one learns wing attack first? Also is sword dance an egg move for them?
What about hunting mourning dove with birds of prey?
Can you please discuss how to train a kestrel to hover and apply it in hunting situations such as for "waiting on" at a low/medium height while the falconer flushes prey towards it?
I have a merlin living in my neighborhood
>I live in the Bronx NY and have many years watching kestrel in my area, I personally have seen kestrel become extremely successful bird hunters during the winter, I have seen them follow starlings into building crevices and never see the starling come back out,they feed on English sparrows regularly, also have seen them catch cowbird by the side of the highway.
You haven't told us the difference between fast and powerful. Acceleration? Turning?
Ben I have been hunting with birds of prey for the last 37 years I’ve flown quite a few Merlin’s over the years but let me say the imprint Merlin’s my friend bred have far outstripped the parent reared ones I have ever owned or seen in my career, I didn’t know the flight capability of the Merlin (imprint)until I saw both his jack and female in pursuit OH MY GOD the flights were so powerful they bend the air to my mind at least…. Anyway apparently Merlin’s don’t wait on and stoop like a falcon well yes they can do it I had one and killed very successfully from waiting on and killing from the stoop …. Have you tried this method with yours!
Does anyone know if you can hunt ruffed grouse with Merlin or also sharp shinned hawk?
I think merlins and sharp shinned would be too small for ruffed grouse. Coopers or goshawk would be my choice for hunting forest grouse.
I appreciate your wealth of knowledge and hope you could answer a few questions. Would a kestrel work well for dragonflies? In beekeeping the dragonfly is a pest. Have you ever heard or read of such, historically? As always thankful
Interesting, I’d like to know this too
Will European Kestrel catch a small rabbit?
You mentioned not having a good video of an American Kestrel hovering. This one is my favorite. His body is twitching around adjusting to the wind while his head stays perfectly still on an X, Y, and Z axis. Watch his head in relation to a static item in the background. th-cam.com/video/mDRcLAkRZ50/w-d-xo.htmlfeature=shared I'm a drone pilot as well...not part 107 yet, but I love your aerial footage.
Please discuss mews, everything about mews.
See how there both falcons the Merlin just bigger but form exsactley the same similar a a red tail and ferrugnouse has different form chest mouth is different not ok Merlin's and kestrels is different in alout ways but there both still falcons it's same as ferrugnouse and red tail comfortable that just anthor exsample as the problem is cool.
Do kèstrels and merlins ever hybridiźe? 😅😊
I have never heard any accounts saying them crossing in the wild. I have seen photos of a male kestrel repeatedly offering food to a female Merlin and trying to court her. But she seemed indifferent to his efforts. I also have not seen anyone who has crossed them in captivity. I’d be interested to know if anyone has.
kestrels have elevator music eyes
merlins dont
nklnkb
"falconry" is SIN
i removed my like b/c you allowed ads in the middle of your content. Think about your followers. They dislike that.
Kestrels have alout more stanmia and indoreance than merlins it's touchy subject I used kestrels growing up to stay out of trouble and I've observed them big time ok the hovering build muscle big time listen to to kestrel call much passionate but to properly have kestrel you need very large incloser like a dome I've traped then trained them and let them go in near bie feild and I'll come home and they be sitting on my mail box at and you call them and they come in and fly lure and stuff at some point they go back to wild but they stick around for a good month and they good exspereince.
The kestrel way more deadly and pernormal.
It seems it’s more about Ben than it is about the birds so how about more face time with the birds and less Ben face time