African Openbill vs Merlin

Anastomus lamelligerus compared with Falco columbarius

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	African Openbill	Merlin
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Chordata (Chordates)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class same	Aves (Birds)	Aves (Birds)
Order	Ciconiiformes (Ciconiiformes)	Falconiformes (Falconiformes)
Family	Ciconiidae	Falconidae
Genus	Anastomus	Falco
Species	Anastomus lamelligerus	Falco columbarius

Evolutionary Relationship

African Openbill and Merlin share a common ancestor at the Class level: Aves. (Birds)

Conservation Status

African Openbill

LC — Least Concern

Merlin

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	African Openbill	Merlin
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

African Openbill

Habitat

Typically found in various aerial, terrestrial, and aquatic environments.

Range

Distributed across Belgium, Germany, and Norway.

Merlin

Habitat

Typically found in various aerial, terrestrial, and aquatic environments.

Range

Widely distributed across Europe (5 countries), North America (United States), and South America (Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela).

African Openbill

The African Openbill (Anastomus lamelligerus) is a species in the genus Anastomus. It is currently classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Typically found in various aerial, terrestrial, and aquatic environments.

Merlin

Merlin (Falco columbarius) is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List. Widespread and abundant across its range, with stable populations and no immediate conservation concerns.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 2 countries:

🇧🇪 Belgium 🇳🇴 Norway