States
North CarolinaTennesseeGeorgiaSouth CarolinaKentuckyAlabamaArkansasFloridaLouisianaMississippiVirginiaWest Virginia
Menu

Bird

Merlin

Falco columbarius

A winter visitor to Mississippi, found in all 82 counties and 8 habitats.

Here
Winter and on migration
Nesting
Not known to nest here
Range
All 82 counties
Habitats
8

At a glance

Group
Birds
Here
Winter and on migration
Nesting
Not known to nest here
Range
All 82 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 Mississippi 8

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

1 of 8

Coastal dunes and beaches

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

WinterUnconsolidated Shore (Beach/Dune); Florida Panhandle Beach Vegetation

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

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

Prairies and grasslands

Open, grass-dominated places kept open by fire, grazing or thin soil, from tallgrass prairie to Piedmont prairies.

WinterEast Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Herbaceous Modifier

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.

WinterMississippi Sound Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh

Swamps

Forested wetlands with standing water much of the year, such as cypress and gum swamps.

WinterEast Gulf Coastal Plain Tidal Wooded Swamp; Mississippi River Bottomland Depression
Other habitats in its models (60)

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

  • 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.
  • Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Slough Winter.

All habitats

Seasons in Mississippi

  • Migratory: does not nest here, in 76 of 82 counties.
  • Winter: does not nest here, in 16 of 82 counties.

Also found in this habitat

Plants 172

Plants named in NatureServe descriptions of these habitats that grow in Mississippi. Shared habitat, not food.

Wildlife 262

Other animals whose habitat models include the same habitats in Mississippi. Not sighting records.

NatureServe Explorer, CC BY 4.0. USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models.

Sources