Merlin
Falco columbarius
Aves
COMMON
Stats
- Lifespan
- 8-12 yrs
- Size
- Small
- Diet
- Carnivore
- Activity
- Diurnal
- Social
- Solitary
- Biome
- Boreal forest
- Range
- Northern Hemisphere
- Movement
- Flight
- Breeding
- Egg-laying
- Defense
- Speed
- Status
- Common
About
The Merlin is a small falcon that hunts across open northern landscapes. It catches songbirds in midair by accelerating to speeds exceeding 100 kilometers per hour.
Life cycle
- 1.eggOne or two eggs are incubated on a high stick nest or cliff ledge, guarded closely by the pair.
- 2.hatchlingA downy hatchling is fed torn meat by its parents and grows quickly in a high nest.
- 3.juvenileA feathered juvenile fledges from the nest, learning to soar and to make its first kills.
- 4.adultFully grown, hunting on its own with adult plumage.
Learn more
Taxonomy
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Falconiformes
- Family
- Falconidae
- Genus
- Falco
- Species
- Falco columbarius