Merlin

The merlin is a small falcon of the Northern Hemisphere with many subspecies in North America and Eurasia, 24–33 cm long with a wingspan of 50–73 cm. Males average about 165 g and females about 230 g. It is fairly distinct in size, shape and colouring among living falcons: the male has a blue-grey back ranging from almost black to silver-grey in different subspecies. It is a swift flier and skilled hunter that specialises in preying on small birds from sparrow to dove size and medium-sized shorebirds (Wikipedia, general species account).

It breeds in the northern Holarctic, and some birds migrate to subtropical and northern tropical regions in winter; on migration it uses almost any habitat. Three to six, usually four or five, eggs are laid; corvids are the primary threat to eggs and nestlings, and nestlings are covered in pale buff down. The cached account gives no detail specific to India. SoIB 2023 lists it as a winter migrant of grassland that eats vertebrates and carrion, without a priority category (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).