Merlin in Virginia

Where it lives

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

Habitats in Virginia 9

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

1 of 9

WinterCultivated CroplandLyell Carr, Black Mountain: a pasture and hayfield with a log barn, rail fence and grazing cow below the Black Mountains. Shown: Black Mountain, North Carolina (Lyell E. Carr), a neighboring state.Black Mountainlabel QS:Len,"Black Mountain", Lyell Carr, c. 1890-1912. Public domain. Source record.

WinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Southern Tidal Wooded Swamp; Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Wooded SwampWilliam McIlvaine, The Chickahominy Swamp (1862): wind-tossed swamp trees standing in dark water under a storm. Chickahominy Swamp, VirginiaThe Chickahominy Swamp LCCN2004661405, William McIlvaine (1813-1867), 1862. Public domain. Source record.

Coastal dunes and beaches

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

WinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Northern Sandy Beach; Unconsolidated Shore (Beach/Dune)

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.

WinterAtlantic 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

Freshwater tidal marshes

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

WinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Freshwater Marsh; Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Fresh and Oligohaline Tidal Marsh

Pocosins and bay forests

Dense evergreen shrub wetlands and bay forests on wet, acid peat of the Coastal Plain.

WinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Peatland Pocosin

Ponds, lakes and their shores

Still water and its edges: ponds, lakes, millponds and reservoirs.

WinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Large Natural Lakeshore

Salt and brackish marshes

Coastal marshes flooded by salty or brackish tides.

WinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Salt and Brackish Marsh; Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Salt Marsh

Other habitats in its models (57)

Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Virginia. Those recorded in Virginia first, the rest by region.

In Virginia 1

Southern Piedmont Glade and Barrens Winter.

Elsewhere in the South (42)

Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Indian River Lagoon Tidal Marsh Winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Sea Island Beach Winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Beach Winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Dune and Maritime Grassland Winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Xeric River Dune Winter.
Central and Upper Texas Coast Dune and Coastal Grassland Winter.
Central Florida Herbaceous Pondshore Winter.
Central Florida Herbaceous Seep Winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Savanna and Wet Prairie Winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Tidal Wooded Swamp Winter.
Florida Big Bend Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Winter.
Florida Big Bend Salt-Brackish Tidal Marsh Winter.
Florida Dry Prairie Winter.
Florida Panhandle Beach Vegetation Winter.
Florida Peninsula Inland Scrub Winter.
Floridian Highlands Freshwater Marsh Winter.
Mississippi River Bottomland Depression Winter.
Mississippi Sound Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Winter.
South Florida Cypress Dome Winter.
South Florida Everglades Sawgrass Marsh Winter.
South Florida Mangrove Swamp Winter.
South Florida Pine Rockland Winter.
South Florida Shell Hash Beach Winter.
South Florida Wet Marl Prairie Winter.
South Texas Lomas Winter.
Southeast Florida Beach Winter.
Southeast Florida Coastal Strand and Maritime Hammock Winter.
Southern Blackland Tallgrass Prairie Winter.
Southern Rocky Mountain Pinyon-Juniper Woodland Winter.
Southwest Florida Beach Winter.
Southwest Florida Coastal Strand and Maritime Hammock Winter.
Southwest Florida Dune and Coastal Grassland Winter.
Texas Coastal Bend Beach Winter.
Texas Saline Coastal Prairie Winter.
Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Winter.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Catahoula Barrens Winter.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Nepheline Syenite Glade Winter.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Calcareous Prairie Winter.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall Winter.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Calcareous Prairie Winter.

West (1)

North American Arid West Emergent Marsh Winter.

Land cover and other classes (13)

Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland Winter.
Developed, Low Intensity Winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Herbaceous Modifier Winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Open Understory Modifier Winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Open Understory Modifier Winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Depression Pondshore Winter.
Florida Longleaf Pine Sandhill - Open Understory Modifier Winter.
Recently Chained Pinyon-Juniper Areas Winter.
South Texas Dune and Coastal Grassland Winter.
South Texas Sand Sheet Grassland Winter.
Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Slough Winter.
Unconsolidated Shore Winter.
Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Winter.

All habitats

Seasons in Virginia

Migratory: does not nest here, in all 133 counties and cities.

County or city

Also found in its main habitats

Its main habitats in Virginia, by how much of its habitat model each one is, with the birds most characteristic of each and the plants that grow wild there. Shared habitat, not food.