General

Merlin: Small falcon with blue-gray upperparts and white to pale brown underparts with heavy, darker streaks. Throat, eye-ring, and line above eye are white. Bill is dark gray and cere (above bill) is yellow. Tail is brown or black barred and white-tipped. Feet are yellow. Pacific race is dark gray, nearly black. Prairie race is paler gray. Taiga race is intermediate. Female and juvenile of all races are duller.

Range and 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.

Breeding and 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.

Foraging and 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.

Vocalization

Merlin: Generally silent, but will emit a high, loud cackle that sounds like "klee-klee-klee."

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.