I think Jay's right about the attractions urban cemeteries have to
merlins. I'm hopeful someone can also explain to us why merlins seem to
have increased in reported numbers in Ohio over the past 15 years or so.
        In his 1989 edition of "The Birds of Ohio," Peterjohn said this
species, after population losses to DDT, etc, had rebounded to its
former numbers by the '80s. He called it rare, and said normal yearly
numbers were about four along the Lake Erie shore, with birds seen
inland only 5-7 years each decade, with a maximum three per year. He
calls them "accidental to casual winter visitors," and cited a single
season-long stay in 1985-86.
        No doubt there are more qualified observers out there now, but not so
many as to account for the much greater numbers seen these days.
For example, Peterjohn says of winter merlins in his *2001* edition,
"Formerly accidental winter visitors, the winter status of merlins
changed markedly in the 1990s." In winter 1999-00 there were 29
reported, above and beyond 14 from the CBCs. And their numbers have
probably increased since then, with multiples wintering at certain spots
since the famous four inland in Bath, Ohio in the mid-'90s. Wintering
merlins seem fairly evenly distributed around the state now, or at least
as even distributed as large cemeteries with mature conifers.
        There is plenty of old--meaning less substantial than one would
like--evidence that merlins nested in Ohio in the nineteenth century. J.
P. Kirtland, for example, casually mentioned that he had a pair nesting
for years in his yard in Lakewood (1859), and deemed it a permanent
resident in the state. Merlins don't seem to have been set back as
severely as peregrines and eagles by DDT, maybe because their diet
didn't include fishes and waterbirds that perhaps more readily
accumulated such poisons. At any rate, they rebounded entirely on their
own, without help from wildlife managers (and without the genetic
scrambling that afflicts peregrines). Trautman observed that merlins
seemed to be rely on insect prey in the fall, and only once saw one
capture a mammal.
        Last year I posted here some details gleaned from an article, and
repeat it here: Martin Bailey wrote an interesting article about merlins
for a
Canadian journal a few years ago. He described interesting new
predator/prey relationships in cities and towns in Saskatchewan. The
introduction there of towns and trees in what used to be vast prairies
has led to the appearance of crows, peregrine falcons (introduced),
great horned owls, and merlins into the bird mix, following previous
incursions by house sparrows and rock pigeons. Merlins, much more
tolerant of the human presence than in wilder spots, began nesting in
spruce plantings in urban settings south of their previous range. In a
fair-sized town such as Weyburn (pop. ~10K), five merlin nests were
found, spaced about 250 meters apart in scattered spruces. In a large
city like Saskatoon (~200K population), over 300 nesting locations have
been identified within the city limits over the past 50 years since
they've moved in.  Merlins do not build nests, often relying instead on
abandoned crows' nests; locals complained about the depredations of
merlins on feeder-birds, forgetting that crows probably caused far more
damage by robbing eggs. In a related note, lethal control projects for
crows and magpies in some areas were sidetracked when it was made known
that protected merlins relied on the nests of unprotected corvids.
Merlins had especially important impacts on house sparrow populations
after arriving as breeders. A more recent occupation of urban breeding
grounds by Cooper's hawks may conflict with that by merlins.
Bill Whan
Columbus

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