The story below is an excerpt from our September/October 2017 issue. For the rest of this story and more like it subscribe today, log in to read our digital edition or download our FREE iOS app. Thank you!
In September, bird lovers band together to watch and record spectacular migrating hawks.
For 43 years, the non-profit Hawk Migration Association of North America (HMANA) has supported a scattering of hawk watches across the continent, and collected data about the majestic birds of prey. But it wasn’t until 2014 that the New Hampshire-based organization launched its fall International Hawk Migration Week to raise awareness of hawks, their migration habits, and the HMANA network of more than 200 raptor monitoring sites. This year’s event takes place September 16-24.
“It’s a way to simply celebrate raptor migration, and get more people out to hawk watch sites, many of which already have festivals, hawk ID workshops, and demonstrations with live birds of prey,” says Julie Brown, monitoring site coordinator for HMANA. “It’s just a fun way to engage people with nature.”
The Appalachian Mountain range serves as a major flyway for many eastern species that head southwest, hugging the Gulf of Mexico coastline as they fly toward their wintering grounds in central and northern South America between August and December. Mid-September marks the peak of the migrating season and an ideal time to spot hawks, osprey and kestrels.
Broad-winged hawks, in particular, are known for their spectacular flights, and tend to pass through the Southeast earlier than their red-tailed, red-shouldered or Cooper’s kin.
“Lots of other species are moving in ones and twos or small groups, but Broad-winged hawks are the big draw because they can ‘kettle’ up in groups. You could see a group of 10 or 20 or 30, or you could see a group of 5,000,” says Brown. “And those numbers grow as you head south. We may have a day of a few hundred or a few thousand in New Hampshire and … the kettles of Broad-winged hawks can get up to hundreds of thousands by the time they’re on the Texas coast. It’s really amazing to watch.”
