Species Assessment: |
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The 10-year migration count trends for Merlin suggests mostly stable populations across North
America with 80% of 64 total sites showing statistically significant stable counts during this span.
Regionally, 22% of 9 count sites show declines with 11% showing increases in the West Region. In
the Gulf Region, 50% of sites have reported an increase in observations (see pie charts and trend
maps below). The 20-year count trends (not shown) reflect a mostly stable population with some
notable increases in the West Region while some decreases were observed in other regions over
this span (Central Region: 1 decrease, 1 stable; East Region: 17 stable, 3 increase, 1 decrease; Gulf
Region: 2 stable, 1 increase, 1 decrease; West Region: 3 stable, 3 increase). Winter survey data from
the Christmas Bird Count suggest increasing 10-year
trends continent-wide with the annual percent
change in population reported to be an increase of
almost 3%. The Merlin is a species of least concern
globally and has been observed to adapt well to
human presence in both urban and suburban
landscapes. Merlin are likely most affected by loss of
suitable habitat due to deforestation and agricultural
practices such as cutting and burning of vegetation in
Photo by Bill Moses
the Great Plains.
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D. Oleyar, D. Ethier, L. Goodrich, D. Brandes, R. Smith, J. Brown, and J. Sodergren. 2021. The Raptor Population Index: 2019 Analyses and Assessments.