The Merlin (Falco columbarius) is a small circumboreal falcon with nine currently recognized subspecies, three of which occur in North America: the pale Prairie Merlin (F. c. richardsonii) of the northern Great Plains, the Black Merlin (F. c. suckleyi) of the Pacific Northwest, and the widespread and medium-hued Taiga Merlin (F. c. columbarius), the paler western component of which was once considered a fourth subspecies, F. c. bendirei (American Ornithologists’ Union [AOU] 1957).