The Merlin breeds from northwest Alaska, northern Yukon, northwest and central Mackenzie, south Keewatin, northern Manitoba, northern Ontario, northern Quebec, Labrador and Newfoundland, south to southern Alaska, southwest British Columbia, central Washington, central Oregon, Idaho, Montana, northern Wyoming, eastern North Dakota, western Nebraska, northern Minnesota, southern Ontario, southern Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. It formerly occurred, or rarely occurs, in eastern Montana, western North Dakota, eastern Iowa, northern Wisconsin, northern Ohio, and northern Michigan.
It winters in western North America from south-central Alaska, coastal British Columbia, coastal Washington, Oregon, southern Idaho, southern Wyoming, Colorado southward to Mexico and Central America, and across the southern states from Texas, southern Louisiana, southern Mississippi, southern Alabama, southern Georgia, Florida and along the coastal eastern seaboard north to Connecticut. Birds from eastern Canada winter in the West Indies and the Caribbean.
Since the 1960s the Prairie Merlin has occurred sparsely year --round in the northern Great Plains: southern Alberta, southern Saskatchewan, Montana, eastern Idaho, northern Wyoming, western North Dakota, and western South Dakota. It is also resident on the Pacific coast from southeastern Alaska to central Washington.
Throughout the world the Merlin breeds across the northern hemisphere from northern Canada and east across northern Europe and Asia
There are 10 recognized subspecies of the Merlin, three of which occur in North America. The distribution for this subspecies is as follows
F. c. richardsonii (Prairie Merlin) - breeds from the aspen groves of south prairie Canada to Montana and western South Dakota, occasionally or rarely to western Nebraska and western North Dakota, and may remain resident or migrate south to southern Central America.
MIGRATION
The Merlin arrives at its breeding areas from late February (Saskatchewan) to late March or mid April (Alaska). Spring migration peaks in late April at Cape May, New Jersey. Males precede females to the breeding areas. Postbreeding adults and fledglings leave their breeding areas in early August. Females leave before males. At Cape May, the peak fall movement occurs from September 20 to October 10. A general flyway for Merlins from west-central Canada east of the Rockies has been proposed along the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains.
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