Merlin (bird) this phenomenon is due to the fluctuations of supplementary food stocks discussed above. Merlin (bird) The merlin ("Falco columbarius") is a small species of falcon from the Northern Hemisphere, with numerous subspecies throughout North America and Eurasia. A bird of prey once known colloquially as a pigeon hawk in North America, the merlin breeds in the northern Holarctic; some migrate to subtropical and northern tropical regions in winter. Males typically have wingspans of , with females being slightly larger. They are swift fliers and skilled hunters who specialize in preying on small birds in the size range of sparrows to
Hawk Mountain to face threats, including from chemical pesticides like DDT. Bird counts have been taken at Hawk Mountain since the end of World War II, with the Sanctuary counting its millionth raptor on October 8, 1992. The mountain is also home to the Hawk Mountain Scout Reservation and Hawk Mountain Camp (two Boy Scout camps) and the Civil Air Patrol's Colonel Phillip Neuweiler Ranger Training Facility (also known as the Hawk Mountain Ranger School). Hawk Mountain Hawk Mountain is a mountain ridge, part of the Blue Mountain Ridge in the Appalachian Mountain chain, located in central-eastern Pennsylvania near Reading and Allentown.