: a small compact falcon (Falco columbarius) of the northern hemisphere having a broad dark terminal band on the tail and upperparts that are slate blue in males and brown in females
Examples of merlin in a Sentence
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Sheryl Devore, Chicago Tribune, 13 Sep. 2023
Other Plum Island sightings were highlighted by an unseasonal merlin and a red-necked phalarope.
—BostonGlobe.com, 5 Aug. 2023
An American white pelican at Big Pond in Otis, two merlins in Dalton, a least bittern in the marsh off Town Beach Road in Richmond, and single hooded warblers at the Hopkins Memorial Forest and the Dry Hill reservation in New Marlborough.
—Isabela Rocha, BostonGlobe.com, 1 July 2023
Researchers from Michigan State University and the University of Minnesota have developed population models to show how controlling merlin and other nest predator populations could reduce the piping plover's risk of extinction, according to the Smithsonian.
—Frank Witsil, Detroit Free Press, 21 Apr. 2023
Berkshire County: a least bittern in Pittsfield on Town Beach Road, a merlin in Great Barrington, nine red crossbills in Williamstown, and two Acadian flycatchers in South Egremont.
—BostonGlobe.com, 30 July 2022
Birds at Race Point in Provincetown included 2 black vultures, 2 Pacific loons, 130 red-throated loons, a Manx shearwater, 11 common murres, 62 razorbills, 9 Iceland gulls, and a merlin.
—BostonGlobe.com, 20 Apr. 2022
The region continued to host a summer tanager at a feeder at 73 Hadley Road in Sunderland, two black vultures in Greenfield, two Iceland gulls at Turners Falls, and a merlin in Orange.
—BostonGlobe.com, 29 Jan. 2022
At Plum Island, a merlin was noted along with an early dunlin and black guillemots; single black guillemots were also seen at Andrews Point in Rockport and in Gloucester Harbor.
—BostonGlobe.com, 31 July 2021
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Noun
One parent was killed by a merlin, a small falcon that lives throughout the Great Lakes region.
—Sheryl Devore, Chicago Tribune, 13 Sep. 2023
Other Plum Island sightings were highlighted by an unseasonal merlin and a red-necked phalarope.
—BostonGlobe.com, 5 Aug. 2023
An American white pelican at Big Pond in Otis, two merlins in Dalton, a least bittern in the marsh off Town Beach Road in Richmond, and single hooded warblers at the Hopkins Memorial Forest and the Dry Hill reservation in New Marlborough.
—Isabela Rocha, BostonGlobe.com, 1 July 2023
Researchers from Michigan State University and the University of Minnesota have developed population models to show how controlling merlin and other nest predator populations could reduce the piping plover's risk of extinction, according to the Smithsonian.
—Frank Witsil, Detroit Free Press, 21 Apr. 2023
Berkshire County: a least bittern in Pittsfield on Town Beach Road, a merlin in Great Barrington, nine red crossbills in Williamstown, and two Acadian flycatchers in South Egremont.
—BostonGlobe.com, 30 July 2022
Birds at Race Point in Provincetown included 2 black vultures, 2 Pacific loons, 130 red-throated loons, a Manx shearwater, 11 common murres, 62 razorbills, 9 Iceland gulls, and a merlin.
—BostonGlobe.com, 20 Apr. 2022
The region continued to host a summer tanager at a feeder at 73 Hadley Road in Sunderland, two black vultures in Greenfield, two Iceland gulls at Turners Falls, and a merlin in Orange.
—BostonGlobe.com, 29 Jan. 2022
At Plum Island, a merlin was noted along with an early dunlin and black guillemots; single black guillemots were also seen at Andrews Point in Rockport and in Gloucester Harbor.
—BostonGlobe.com, 31 July 2021
Cite this Entry
“Merlin.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/merlin. Accessed 4 Jul. 2025.
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