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Raptor ID Help! (1 Viewer)

kalikuma

Member
Hi folks,

I'm a novice birder and I'd like to enlist your help in IDing this raptor I saw in my neighborhood. I live in Kitsap County in Washington in the Pacific Northwest (US), and a few days ago I spotted this raptor way way up in the top of a pine tree, defeathering a dead bird and proceeding to eat it. I got some blurry photos of it. I think it's a juvenile peregrine falcon because it does look like it has malar stripes though not very prominent, and it looks like it has thick legs. At the time it did look like a sizeable bird at maybe 22 inches from head to tip of tail, but it was pretty far away so it may have been smaller. I know there are black merlins here so could it be that?

I attached photos but I also have some equally blurry videos if they would be helpful.

Thank you in advance for any ideas as to what this bird is!
 

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It's a Merlin, kalikuma. Welcome to BirdForum. Please feel free to come back with any more questions you might have.
 
Ditto to Merlin, the dark PNW subspecies Falco columbarius suckleyi. As an aside, it's in a Western Hemlock Tsuga heterophylla, not a pine :t:
 
That's weird, it looks like my original response never got posted. I wanted to thank everyone who helped me ID this bird. I have a feeling I'll be back on this forum quite often with ID questions! :)
 
BTW, a warm welcome to you from those of us on staff here at BirdForum :t:

We're glad you found us and please join in wherever you like ;)
 
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