Merlin

Falco columbarius

Order: Falconiformes
Family: Falconidae
Presence in the Strait: Seasonal
Abundance: rare
Protection in Spain: Special protection (List)
In Spanish: Esmerejón

Photograph: Valentina Eggler, CC0, vía iNaturalist

Length: 25–30 cm
Wingspan: 60–65 cm
Weight: 180–230 g

Presence in the Strait

Rare and irregular winter visitor (<6) to open country areas.

Identification

Similar to the Peregrine but very small and compact. Short wings with broad base; long, rather square-cut tail. Often flies at almost ground level. Powerful rapid wing-beats. Male is bluish-grey above and rusty-yellow below with fine streaking. Female is brownish-grey on upperparts and boldly streaked on underparts.

Movements

Very scarce migrant (<12 post. migr.) with peaks in 2nd hf. March and 1st hf. October.

Ring recoveries

Chick ringed on 8.07.88 in Finland, controlled on 21.02.89 at Arcos de la Frontera (Cadiz), 4,143 Km. away. Pandionidae Águila Pescadora Falconidae juv. Esmerejón

Bioestrecho editorial text. Last revised: 8 September 2026.

Photographs from iNaturalist observations with the licence checked file by file. Those marked “Strait” were taken within the area; place and date are those of each observation.

Calendar in the Strait

26 %

Peak in January. Observations under CC0 or CC BY licences. The distribution also reflects observation effort.

Where it is seen

Open records from the atlas database, in cells of about 3.6 km. Opacity follows the square root of the count, and also reflects where people observe most.

See on the map

First open record: 28 January 1994
Latest record: 22 October 2025

The oldest and the most recent open observation in the extended area. A recent first observation does not mean the species is new: it means nobody had published it openly before.

Conservation

The catalogues, Andalusian and Spanish, are what binds; the Red Book assesses the Spanish population with IUCN criteria, and the global Red List is the context.

LCNTVUENCR

Andalusian Catalogue: Special protection (List)
Spanish Catalogue: Special protection (List)
Red Book of the Birds of Spain 2021: LC · Least concern · wintering or migrating
Global Red List (IUCN): LC · Least concern

Annex I of the Birds Directive

Andalusian Catalogue: Junta de Andalucía, list of 24 April 2025. Spanish Catalogue: MITECO, table of 30 June 2025. Red Book: SEO/BirdLife, 2021 (Annex I). IUCN: via GBIF, 6 September 2026. Red Book and IUCN categories are assessments; catalogue categories are legal obligations.

Same genus in the Strait

Lesser Kestrel29–32 cm · Seasonal · overlapping size
Eurasian Hobby28–35 cm · Migrant · overlapping size
Red-footed Falcon28–34 cm · Vagrant · overlapping size
Common Kestrel33–39 cm · Resident
Eleonora’s Falcon36–42 cm · Migrant

Species of the same genus that also occur here, ordered by how close they are in size. Being relatives does not mean they are confused in the field, but that is where the doubts start: compare size and season.

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Falconiformes
Family: Falconidae
GBIF taxon key: 9813242

Sources

Distribution and calendar: Bioestrecho's own database, ingested from GBIF and OBIS
Photograph: Valentina Eggler, CC0, vía iNaturalist
Taxonomy: GBIF backbone, pending WoRMS for marine taxa
Editorial text: written by Bioestrecho
Last revised: 8 September 2026

Merlin

Presence in the Strait

Identification

Movements

Ring recoveries

Gallery