Description:

Distinctive small, stocky, dashing falcon, with short, pointed wings. Male has blue-grey upperparts, broad black tail-band, diffuse patch of rufous-orange on nape, and rufous-orange streaking on underparts. Female has brown upperparts with variable buffish markings, heavily streaked underparts, and barred uppertail.

Distribution:

Rare passage migrant and winter visitor through the western parts of Gilgit-Baltistan. Extremely varied habitat, from lowlands up to treeline at 3000m. Usually open country including desert scrub, cultivations and mountain valleys.

Behavior:

Usually attacks from perch, but also while flying low over ground. Prey mainly caught in mid-air; attacks less frequently directed at perched birds; often performs hot pursuit of prey in flight. Chiefly feeds on small birds. After breeding and in migration; well known for consuming dragonflies in flight on migration. Small rodents and shrews also caught, especially by young in first year.

Photo Gallery:

Range & Occurrence:

Resident Species

Summer Breeder

Winter Visitor

Passage Migrant

Distribution Map of Merlin in Gilgit-Baltistan (Status: )

Seasonal Occurrence of Merlin

Resources:

Birds of Pakistan: Helm Field Guides (R. Grimmett & T. Inskipp)
The Birds of Pakistan (T. J. Roberts)
Birds of the Indian Subcontinent (C. Inskipp, R. Grimmett & T. Inskipp)
Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide (P. Rasmussen & J. Anderton)
Birds of India: Collins Field Guide (N. Arlott)
Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan (S. Ali & S. D. Ripley)
Handbook of the Birds of the World (https://www.hbw.com)
The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World, 6th Edition
iNaturalist BoGB (inaturalist.org/projects/birds-of-gilgit-baltistan)
Birds of Gilgit-Baltistan (http://fb.me/birdsgb)

*Gallery images on this page are shared from flickr.com, and are copyrighted to their respective creators or owners.