Bird

Merlin

Falco columbarius

A winter visitor to Florida, found in all 67 counties and 16 habitats.

Here: Winter
Nesting: Not known to nest here
Range: All 67 counties
Habitats: 16

Male Merlin, whole bird — **Male**. (c) Laura Liedtke, some rights reserved (CC BY). CC BY 4.0. iNaturalist photo 240208016. Source-provided large resize; no crop or image edits.

At a glance

Group: Birds
Here: Winter
Nesting: Not known to nest here
Range: All 67 counties
Habitats: 16
Habitat models: Winter

Where it lives

The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.

Habitats in Florida 16

Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 16

WinterSouth Florida Everglades Sawgrass Marsh; Floridian Highlands Freshwater MarshRegional / representative. Shown: Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, Georgia; representative pond ecosystem, a neighboring state.Georgia pond and emergent wetland, Robert 'Bob' Hynes, 1997. Public domain. Source record.

WinterFlorida Dry PrairieLimestone prairie. Shown: Grand Prairie, Coosa Valley Prairies, Floyd County, Georgia, a neighboring state.Grand Prairie, Coosa Valley Prairies, Floyd County, Alan M. Cressler / U.S. Geological Survey, undated. Public domain. Source record.

WinterEast Gulf Coastal Plain Tidal Wooded Swamp; Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Tidal Wooded Swamp; South Florida Cypress DomeRegional / representative. Shown: Southern coastal swamps, Florida to Virginia; state not identified, a neighboring state.Loblolly bay in a coastal swamp, Marian Ellis Rowan, 1901. Public domain. Source record.

Coastal dunes and beaches

Open sand of beaches, dunes and the hollows between them.

WinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Southern Beach; Unconsolidated Shore (Beach/Dune); Southeast Florida Beach; South Florida Shell Hash Beach; Florida Panhandle Beach Vegetation; Atlantic Coastal Plain Sea Island Beach; Southwest Florida Beach; Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Dune and Maritime Grassland; Southwest Florida Dune and Coastal Grassland

Depression ponds and limesinks

Shallow ponds in Coastal Plain depressions, such as limesinks and the ponds in some Carolina bays, that rise and fall with the seasons.

WinterCentral Florida Herbaceous Pondshore; Atlantic Coastal Plain Depression Pondshore

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.

Winter

Florida scrub

Evergreen scrub oaks, sand pine and rosemary on deep, white, drought-prone sand ridges, burned rarely but intensely; distinct from the longleaf and turkey oak sandhills.

Winter

Freshwater tidal marshes

Marshes along tidal rivers where the water is fresh but rises and falls with the tide.

WinterFlorida Big Bend Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh; Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh

Mangrove swamps

Tidal forests and thickets of red, black and white mangrove along sheltered tropical and subtropical shores.

Winter

Maritime forests and thickets

Salt-pruned forests and shrub thickets behind coastal dunes.

WinterSouthwest Florida Coastal Strand and Maritime Hammock; Southeast Florida Coastal Strand and Maritime Hammock

Pine flatwoods

Flat, sandy Coastal Plain pine woodlands, wetter than sandhills and denser than savannas.

WinterEast Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Open Understory Modifier

Pine savannas

Open, fire-kept longleaf pine stands over grasses and wildflowers on wet to moist sandy soil.

WinterEast Gulf Coastal Plain Savanna and Wet Prairie

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.

WinterCultivated Cropland

Salt and brackish marshes

Coastal marshes flooded by salty or brackish tides.

WinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Central Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh; Atlantic Coastal Plain Indian River Lagoon Tidal Marsh; Mississippi Sound Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh; Florida Big Bend Salt-Brackish Tidal Marsh

Sandhills

Dry, deep-sand ridges with longleaf pine and turkey oak, kept open by fire.

WinterFlorida Longleaf Pine Sandhill - Open Understory Modifier

Other habitats in its models (37)

Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Florida.

Developed, Low Intensity Winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Sandy Beach Winter.
Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Winter.
Unconsolidated Shore Winter.
Texas Coastal Bend Beach Winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Herbaceous Modifier Winter.
South Florida Pine Rockland Winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Open Understory Modifier Winter.
Southern Rocky Mountain Pinyon-Juniper Woodland 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.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Calcareous Prairie Winter.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Calcareous Prairie Winter.
South Texas Sand Sheet 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 Embayed Region Tidal Salt and Brackish Marsh Winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Salt 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.
North American Arid West Emergent Marsh Winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Freshwater Marsh Winter.
Central Florida Herbaceous Seep Winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Fresh and Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Wooded Swamp Winter.
South Florida Wet Marl Prairie Winter.
Texas Saline Coastal Prairie Winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Depression Pondshore Winter.
Mississippi River Bottomland Depression Winter.
Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Slough Winter.