Merlin (Falco columbarius)
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Vertebrate > bird > Bird |
| Red List Status: | Endangered (Breeding) [EN(br)] |
| D5 Status: | Included in the baseline Red List Index for England (Wilkins, Wilson & Brown, 2022) |
| Section 41 Status: | (not listed) |
| Taxa Included Synonym: | (none) |
| UKSI Recommended Name: | Falco columbarius |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | Linnaeus, 1758 |
| UKSI Recommended Qualifier: | (none specified) |
| Red List Citation: | Stanbury et al., 2021 |
| Notes on taxonomy/listing: | (none) |
Criteria
| Question 1: | Does species need conservation or recovery in England? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Cited population decline, not covered by BBS. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Research needed to determine drivers of decline |
| Question 3: | At a landscape scale, would the species benefit from untargeted habitat management to increase habitat mosaics, structural diversity, or particular successional stages? |
| Response: | No |
| Justification: | This species would not benefit from untargeted management |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 4. Autecology and pressures understood |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Medium-high |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Opportunistic - insufficient |
| Species Comments: | Useful to test the currently unevaluated 'Merlin Zone/ Block' option employed (variably) under SP9. Approaches differ between sites and the prescription could be refined. |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Estimate the abundance and distribution Merlin in England as part of a National Survey
Action targets: 3. National Monitoring Plan agreed and implemented
Action type: Targeted monitoring
Duration: 1 year
Scale of Implementation: National
High priority sites: Primarily northern England
Comments: Survey repeated on a regular basis.
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Consider and as appropriate implement recommendations of the 2016 SPA Review for this species. Up to date evidence is required.
Action targets: 7. Best approach adopted at appropriate scales
Action type: Site protection
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites:
Comments:
Key Action 3
Proposed Action: Investigate ecology of Merlins in declining and stable populations, include testing of the 'Merlin Zone/ Block' option employed under SP9, and obtain data on links between breeding and wintering locations.
Action targets: 4. Autecology and pressures understood
Action type: Scientific research
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 10 sites
High priority sites:
Comments: Do we have data on stable and declining populations?
Acknowledgment:
Data used on this website are adapted from Threatened species recovery actions 2025 baseline (JP065): Technical report and spreadsheet user guide (Natural England, 2025). Available here.