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Merlin

Falco columbariusOrder: FALCONIFORMESFamily: Falcons (Falconidae)
Merlin Head Illustration

Head

  • Bill Shape: Hooked
  • Eye Color: Dark brown.
  • Head Pattern: Eyeline, Streaked, Unique pattern
  • Crown Color: Blue-gray
  • Forehead Color: White to blue-gray.
  • Nape Color: Blue-gray
  • Throat Color: White with brown streaking.
  • Cere color: Yellow
Merlin Body Illustration

Body

  • Length Range: 28-33 cm (11-13 in)
  • Weight: 162 g (5.7 oz)
  • Size: Medium (9 - 16 in)
  • Color Primary: Gray
  • Underparts: White to buff with brown streaking.
  • Upperparts: Blue-gray
  • Back Pattern: Solid, Scaled or Scalloped
  • Belly Pattern: Striped or streaked
  • Breast Pattern: Striped or streaked
Merlin Flight Illustration

Flight

  • Flight Pattern: Swift direct flight with rapid wing beats.
  • Wingspan Range: 58-66 cm (23-26 in)
  • Wing Shape: Pointed-Wings, Long-Wings
  • Tail Shape: Squared Tail
  • Tail Pattern: Barred
  • Upper Tail: Blue-gray
  • Under Tail: White to buff with brown bars.
  • Leg Color: Yellow
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Family
Species Falco columbarius
Length11 - 13 Inches
Wingspan24.5 Inches

Merlin

Merlin: Small falcon with blue-gray upperparts, white to pale brown underparts with dark streaks. Throat, eye-ring, line above eye are white. Dark gray bill, cere is yellow. Tail is brown or black barred with white tips. Pacific race is dark gray. Prairie race is light gray. Taiga race is a mixture.

● Song: "ki-ki-kee", "kek-kek-kek", "klee-klee-klee"

● Foraging & Feeding: Merlin: Preys mainly on small birds such as larks, swallows, finches, and occasionally ptarmigan; also eats small mammals, lizards, snakes, and insects, especially dragonflies.

● Breeding & nesting: Merlin: Two to seven white eggs sometimes marked with red brown are laid in a tree cavity without nesting materials added; occasionally uses a rocky ledge or abandoned crow nest. Incubation ranges from 28 to 32 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Merlin: American Kestrel has two moustache stripes, red-brown head, narrower wings, and lacks the checkerboard pattern of underwings. Peregrine Falcon is much larger with bolder moustache stripe and less checkered underwings. Prairie Falcon has a bolder moustache stripe, white between eye and moustache stripe, and black axillars.

Flight Pattern

Swift direct flight with rapid wing beats.
Merlin Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Merlin: Breeds from Alaska east through Mackenzie to Newfoundland and south to Wyoming, Montana, and northeastern Maine. Spends winters mainly in the southern U.S. north along the west coast up to British Columbia and on the east coast to southern New England. Preferred habitats include coniferous forests.
BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester
Population
MigrationMigratory
Weight5.7 Ounces