Trapping Merlins

Obtaining a bird

We’re very fortunate in the United States to have a variety of sources for merlins. We have access to nestling birds, captive bred birds and we’re very fortunate to be able to trap passage birds.

 Beach Trapping (stationary nets)

 I am one of the lucky ones, living only one and a half hours from the east coast of Florida and to be able to take advantage of the migrating merlins each fall.

 When it comes to trapping merlins on the beach the Dho-gazza reigns supreme. I carry a variety of net sizes with me when I head out trapping but I typically use a pair of three foot by six foot nets arranged in a shallow V, with the point of the V aiming north (or the direction the merlins are coming from). Some situations may call for different configurations like a three-sided “backstop” but the “V” rarely fails me.

 Each corner of my nets are zip-tied to a small steel ring, these rings then slide onto ½” galvanized conduit poles. The top rings have a 2” piece of monofilament tied to them. A wooden clothespin attached to the top of each pole acts as the trigger mechanism. The clothespin holds the piece of monofilament, holding the net up. When the bird hits the net the monofilament pulls free the rings slide to the ground collapsing the net on the merlin.

I run my lure bird lines through a series of poles leading back to the blind. This allows me to position my bait bird exactly in the center of the nets and it’s not necessary for my blind to be directly behind the nets. I prefer an English sparrow as my bait bird and I use a lure pigeon on a separate pole about ten feet from the nets. The pole for your lure pigeon should be at least 10ft high (the higher the better) so you can get the pigeon high into the air. The pigeon is used to lure in birds from a distance, once the bird is close enough to see the sparrow, drop the pigeon and bring the merlin in to the nets using the sparrow.

Your backdrop is the most important element for success. It’s very important to make sure you have a dark backdrop. Stand about five feet away from your nets, on the side the merlin will be coming from, and get down on your hands and knees so you can see what the merlin will see. If you see sky behind the nets you’ll see that they are way too visible (as in the photo above). You need a dark background to make the nets disappear (as shown in the photo below). If you don’t have such a natural background available there are a few props you can take with you. I have several small artificial Christmas trees I carry with me for such a purpose and I have found the best and easiest solution is camouflaged cloth stretched between two poles. I have several of these that are 4ft wide and can be positioned wherever needed.