August 1st marked the start of the Corpus Christi count. So far, our crew has counted over 1,100 birds of 10 different species. Over 90% of those counted are Mississippi Kites and Swallow-tailed Kites. Don’t let these numbers fool you, by the end of the season, Broad-winged Hawks will make…

By Steve Slater While you likely know that HawkWatch International has been placing silver aluminum bands on raptors for over 35 years to study raptor movement ecology and survival, have you ever heard of color bands? Color bands are sometimes placed on birds in addition to traditional bands and generally…

Jesse Watson at Chelan Ridge HawkWatch PC Blank Space Where can I find the locations of your hawkwatches? HWI runs a network of count sites across the western half of the US. If you head to our Migration Network page on our website, you can find the coordinates and driving…

How long have you been volunteering with HawkWatch International?  6 years (I think) How did you get started volunteering with HWI? A good friend invited me to tag along on a Short-eared Owl Survey in 2016, and I've been hooked ever since! In addition to the Short-eared Owl Survey, I've…

Today we are sad to say see you later to one of our longest volunteers. Tessa McNamee has been volunteering with HWI since she was in 6th grade, putting 11 years into caring for our Raptor Ambassadors. As you can imagine, 11-year-olds are not allowed to handle the birds, so…

We recently received an Ask An Expert submission from a photographer in Virginia who happened upon the following: four Cooper’s Hawks in juvenile plumage were together on a branch, but there were notable differences between them. Three had grayish-green eyes, relatively short tails, and one of the three had a…

How long have you been volunteering with HawkWatch International?  I started volunteering last autumn, in 2021. How did you get started volunteering with HWI? It's actually kind of a funny story. I had been turned down for an educator job at HWI and figured that would be the end of…

Inviting raptors to your yard not only makes for pleasant bird watching but also balances the health of your yard’s ecosystem. As predators, raptors will help keep down the levels of small rodents like the mice who are entering your home, the insects eating the tomatoes in your vegetable garden,…

American Kestrels are North America’s tiniest falcons and are also one of the continent’s most common raptor species. Long-term migration counts, Breeding Bird Surveys, and Christmas Bird Counts, however, have alerted researchers to declines in American Kestrel populations. In order to determine what could be causing these declines, HWI and…

How long have you been volunteering with HawkWatch International?  I have been volunteering as an education docent with HawkWatch International for eight months. How did you get started volunteering with HWI? I love education and working with animals, so being an education docent seemed like a perfect fit! What is…