Merlin in April

April is when spring migration hits its stride. Waves of migrants move north on warm southerly winds, wintering birds leave for good, and early nesters are already on eggs in the South. Every week brings species that weren't there the week before.

For the Merlin specifically, April is a spring month of relative routine, with the species settled into its seasonal pattern across its range. Across the 62 states and provinces where merlins occur, what the bird is doing this month depends heavily on latitude — the details below break it down by band.

Southern states

absent

Mid-latitudes

year-round resident

Northern states & Canada

absent

In April, merlins are absent in the South, year-round resident across the mid-latitudes, and absent in the northern states and Canada. That north–south split is the defining feature of this month: where you live changes which version of this bird you're looking at.

Merlins are not nesting in April. The season runs May–July at mid-latitudes, starting roughly a month earlier in the South.

Outside the nesting season, merlins put their energy into feeding and flocking rather than territory and young — which is exactly what makes them easier to watch and attract this month.

• Sparrows, waxwings and dragonflies

Increasingly a city nester, using old crow nests in conifers; hunts feeder flocks at speed.

Migrants arriving after long flights are hungry — feeders can be genuine lifelines during cold, wet spells that suppress insects.

Full Merlin diet guide → · Best feeder for merlins →

Merlins are settled and predictable in April, which makes this a good month to learn the bird's routine — same feeders, same perches, same times of day.

The state guides below show exactly where in your region merlins are expected this month and which native plants hold them in a yard.

AlabamaAlaskaAlbertaArizonaArkansasBritish ColumbiaCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutDelawareFloridaGeorgiaIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaine