Bird
Merlin
Falco columbarius
A winter visitor to Alabama, found in all 67 counties and 8 habitats.
- Here
- Winter and on migration
- Nesting
- Not known to nest here
- Range
- All 67 counties
- Habitats
- 8

At a glance
- Group
- Birds
- Here
- Winter and on migration
- Nesting
- Not known to nest here
- Range
- All 67 counties
- Habitats
- 8
- Habitat models
- Winter
Where it lives
The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.
Habitats in Alabama 8
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.


Open sand of beaches, dunes and the hollows between them.
Disturbed and introduced wetlands
Wet ground taken over by weedy or introduced plants after disturbance, such as common reed, Chinese tallow or tamarisk stands; the upland counterpart is roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.
Flat, sandy Coastal Plain pine woodlands, wetter than sandhills and denser than savannas.
Open, fire-kept longleaf pine stands over grasses and wildflowers on wet to moist sandy soil.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Coastal marshes flooded by salty or brackish tides.
Other habitats in its models (61)
Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Alabama.
- Developed, Low Intensity Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Sandy Beach Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Beach Winter.
- Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Winter.
- Unconsolidated Shore Winter.
- Southeast Florida Beach Winter.
- South Florida Shell Hash Beach Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Sea Island Beach Winter.
- Southwest Florida Beach Winter.
- Texas Coastal Bend Beach Winter.
- Southwest Florida Coastal Strand and Maritime Hammock Winter.
- Southeast Florida Coastal Strand and Maritime Hammock Winter.
- South Florida Pine Rockland Winter.
- Florida Longleaf Pine Sandhill - Open Understory Modifier Winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Open Understory Modifier Winter.
- Southern Rocky Mountain Pinyon-Juniper Woodland Winter.
- Florida Peninsula Inland Scrub Winter.
- Southern Piedmont Glade and Barrens Winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Catahoula Barrens Winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Nepheline Syenite Glade Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Xeric River Dune Winter.
- Southern Blackland Tallgrass Prairie Winter.
- Florida Dry Prairie Winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Calcareous Prairie Winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Calcareous Prairie Winter.
- South Texas Sand Sheet Grassland Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Dune and Maritime Grassland Winter.
- Southwest Florida Dune and Coastal Grassland Winter.
- Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Winter.
- Central and Upper Texas Coast Dune and Coastal Grassland Winter.
- South Texas Lomas Winter.
- South Texas Dune and Coastal Grassland Winter.
- Recently Chained Pinyon-Juniper Areas Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Indian River Lagoon Tidal Marsh Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Salt and Brackish Marsh Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Salt Marsh Winter.
- Florida Big Bend Salt-Brackish Tidal Marsh Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Peatland Pocosin Winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Large Natural Lakeshore Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Tidal Wooded Swamp Winter.
- South Florida Everglades Sawgrass Marsh Winter.
- Floridian Highlands Freshwater Marsh Winter.
- North American Arid West Emergent Marsh Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Freshwater Marsh Winter.
- Central Florida Herbaceous Seep Winter.
- Florida Big Bend Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Fresh and Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Wooded Swamp Winter.
- South Florida Mangrove Swamp Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Winter.
- South Florida Wet Marl Prairie Winter.
- Texas Saline Coastal Prairie Winter.
- South Florida Cypress Dome Winter.
- Central Florida Herbaceous Pondshore Winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Depression Pondshore Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Depression Pondshore Winter.
- Mississippi River Bottomland Depression Winter.
- Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Slough Winter.
Seasons in Alabama
- Migratory: does not nest here, in 58 of 67 counties.
- Winter: does not nest here, in 18 of 67 counties.
Also found in this habitat
Plants 122
Plants named in NatureServe descriptions of these habitats that grow in Alabama. Shared habitat, not food.
- Common WaxmyrtleMorella cerifera
- TitiCyrilla racemiflora
- Sweetbay MagnoliaMagnolia virginiana
- Swamp TupeloNyssa biflora
- Longleaf PinePinus palustris
- Pond CypressTaxodium ascendens
- Red MapleAcer rubrum
- Agalinis filicaulisAgalinis filicaulis
- Nodding OnionAllium cernuum
- Piedmont Indigo-bushAmorpha schwerinii
- Pinewoods BluestemAndropogon arctatus
- Elliotts BluestemAndropogon gyrans
- Aristida beyrichianaAristida beyrichiana
- Asclepias viridulaAsclepias viridula
- Groundsel-treeBaccharis halimifolia
- Rock SpikemossBryodesma rupestre
- Gulf Coast Sea RocketCakile constricta
- Trumpet-creeperCampsis radicans
- Pennsylvania SedgeCarex pensylvanica
- Carphephorus pseudoliatrisCarphephorus pseudoliatris
- Pignut HickoryCarya glabra
- Common HackberryCeltis occidentalis
- Dwarf HackberryCeltis tenuifolia
- Eastern RedbudCercis canadensis
Wildlife 253
Other animals whose habitat models include the same habitats in Alabama. Not sighting records.
- Mourning DoveZenaida macroura
- Northern MockingbirdMimus polyglottos
- Northern ShovelerAnas clypeata
- OspreyPandion haliaetus
- Palm WarblerDendroica palmarum
- Purple GallinulePorphyrio martinica
- Rusty BlackbirdEuphagus carolinus
- Short-eared OwlAsio flammeus
- Snowy EgretEgretta thula
- American PipitAnthus rubescens
- Bald EagleHaliaeetus leucocephalus
- Belted KingfisherMegaceryle alcyon
- Black VultureCoragyps atratus
- Blue GrosbeakPasserina caerulea
- CanvasbackAythya valisineria
- Carolina ChickadeePoecile carolinensis
- Chipping SparrowSpizella passerina
- DunlinCalidris alpina
- Eastern PhoebeSayornis phoebe
- Eastern TowheePipilo erythrophthalmus
- Field SparrowSpizella pusilla
- Gray KingbirdTyrannus dominicensis
- King RailRallus elegans
- Least SandpiperCalidris minutilla
NatureServe Explorer, CC BY 4.0. USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models.
Sources
- USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models (2001)
- USGS GAP winter habitat model for Merlin
- USGS Gap Analysis Project range maps (2001), modeled by watershed; migratory gives no dates
- NatureServe Explorer (CC BY 4.0), habitat names
- US Census TIGER/Line counties
- Names follow the USGS Gap Analysis Project (2001)










































