They can often be seen hovering while they search for prey, or sitting watchfully on a high branch or wire, waiting to pounce. This is very different from how they behave in other islands where the Sparrowhawks are not so dominant. Merlins, on the other hand, are fast fliers, and they hunt down other birds in high-speed aerial chases. They can often be seen perched beside ponds and lagoons where there are a lot of waterbirds, keeping a watch for the slow or the weak. They like to test other birds, and will constantly swoop low over the pond, just to try out the residents.
Peregrines are the traditional birds of falconry.
They are famous for their aerial pounce, swooping down at speeds of up to 200 miles per hour on flocks of flying birds. This spectacular maneuver is called a stoop, and at the start of it the Peregrine builds up its tremendous speed by pumping its wings to force it into the dive. Peregrines, like Merlins, haunt open ponds and coastal lagoons, where there is a good supply of shorebirds and little cover for the prey. Merlins are not so easy to find, although if you spend long enough by a suitable pond during the winter months the odds are that one will come by to give the resident birds a hard time. Since then they have made a good comeback, and have recently been removed from the endangered list, but they remain rare and an exciting find.