Species: Falco columbarius

Merlin

Species

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Encyclopedia of Puget Sound

A small falcon with pointed wings, a strongly barred tail, a hooked bill, and heavy streaking below; upperparts are gray-blue in males, dark brown in females; overall, plumage is much darker in the Pacific Northwest than in central Canada and the Midwest; average length 31 cm, wingspan 64 cm (NGS 1983).

Classification

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Craniata

Class

Aves

Order

Falconiformes

Family

Falconidae

Genus

Falco

NatureServe

Source:
ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.105574

Classification

Other Global Common Names

Esmerilhão - Halcón Esmerejón - faucon émerillon

Informal Taxonomy

Animals, Vertebrates - Birds - Raptors

Formal Taxonomy

Animalia - Craniata - Aves - Falconiformes - Falconidae - Falco - See Olsen et al. (1989) for a study of relationships within the genus FALCO based on electrophoretic patterns of feather proteins.

Ecology and Life History

Short General Description

Merlin, pigeon hawk, Falconidae.

Migration

true - true - true - Most boreal birds of all ages migrate; in southern breeding range, sometimes resident or migration shorter (Palmer 1988). Northward migrants reach northern U.S. and northern Eurasia in April-May, males generally before females. Migrates southward for northern winter; migration begins in north in late August, peaks in central latitudes of U.S. September-October; migrants reach southwestern Ecuador October-November (Palmer 1988). In Puerto Rico, begins to arrive in October, departs by end of April (Rodriguez-Duran and Lewis 1985). Migrants may cross large bodies of water.

Non-migrant

true

Locally Migrant

true

Food Comments

Bulk of diet usually consists of small to medium-sized birds, often flocking species. Large flying insects (e.g., dragonflies) may be important for young learning to hunt. Also eats toads, reptiles, and mammals (including bats in the West Indies). Uses inconspicuous perches and searching flights when hunting. May cache prey in various seasons. Prey requirements for adults and young during 120-day breeding/rearing period: several hundred sparrow-size birds (see Palmer 1988).

Reproduction Comments

Laying generally is completed in southeastern Montana by May 20, which is the peak date in Saskatchewan, where clutches were initiated between mid-April and late May (Sodhi et al. 1992); clutches were completed by late May in Denali Park, Alaska. Clutch size is 2-7 (average 3-5). Incubation, primarily by the female, lasts 31-32 days (male brings food). Young fledge in 25-35 days, remain dependent on parents for food 2-5 more weeks (young remained in vicinity of nest 7-19 days after fledging in southeastern Montana, Becker and Sieg 1985). First breeds at 1-2 years (occasionally 1 year). Yearling male may help nesting pair (James and Oliphant 1986). See Sodhi et al. (1992) for information on an expanding Saskatchewan population characterized by very high reproductive success.

Ecology Comments

At Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, breeding density was 25.4 pairs/100 sq km, the highest recorded for this species (Sodhi et al. 1992). Hunting range sizes (May-July) in Saskatoon varied from about 2-14 sq km (average 6-7 sq km) in residents to 0.6-64 sq km (average 9 sq km in females, 34 sq km in males) in immigrants; neighboring hunting ranges overlapped by 0-77% (Sodhi and Oliphant 1992). <br><br>In Montana, nestling-period home range of 3 telemetered males was 13-28 sq km; moved up to 8-9 km from nest site (Becker and Sieg 1985).

Length

Weight

244

Conservation Status

NatureServe Global Status Rank

Global Status Last Reviewed

1996-11-22

Global Status Last Changed

1996-11-22

Distribution

Conservation Status Map

Global Range

H - >2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles) - H - Holarctic distribution. BREEDS: from northward tree limit in Alaska, Canada, and Eurasia southward to southern Alaska, Oregon, Idaho, South Dakota, northern Great Lakes region, New York, Maine, Nova Scotia, British Isles, and central Russia. NORTHERN WINTER: southern British Columbia and western and southern U.S. south to Venezuela and Peru, and in Europe, extreme northern Africa, and China. Holarctic distribution.

Global Range Code

Global Range Description

>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)

ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.105574