I wanted to share my sighting of a Mississippi Kite along the foothills of Salt Lake May 4th. It was the 2nd one for the state, one was spotted in May 2008 as well, but nonetheless, a rare bird in Utah. I have a feeling they come through with a…

I just wanted to share these 2 images that were sent to me recently. Bryant Olsen (an expert birder in my home state of Utah) shared the top picture with me. He photographed this hawk in Arizona in late April and of course knew what it was but thought it…

I had a note in my inbox titled "odd molt?" and the subject of molt always interests me. So, I opened the email from my friend Matt and he was wondering what was up with the juvenile Broad-winged Hawk (right) he photographed in Texas on April 24th. He mentioned Bill…

I love when people send me hawk photos. It allows me to see birds and plumage variants I never would have seen otherwise. This time of year you will see a number of birds (especially juveniles from the previous summer) faded and molting, which prompted me to post this blog…

I got a few emails this week regarding Sharp-shinned Hawk vs. Cooper's Hawk, with photos to review. Of course, this is an ongoing ID issue since the two species look so darn similar. ALL of the birds in this composite are Cooper's Hawks! Some look small headed, some look square…

How many Cooper's Hawk photos have you seen identified as Sharp-shinned Hawks based on their "skinny legs?" I know I have seen many! Do Sharp-shinned Hawks have skinny legs….of course. But, Cooper's Hawks can have skinny legs as well (especially males). Here are a few photos of Cooper's Hawks…check out…

Last month, HawkWatch International in partnership with the USFS Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest delivered a presentation at the Raptors of the Northwest Symposium. The presentation, titled “Raptor Migration Monitoring and Predictive Modeling in the Northwest,” was authored by HWI’s Steve Slater and Shawn Hawks and USFS’s Kent Woodruff, and discussed our…

Spring 2014 markes the second season of our American Kestrel Study. With the help of our awesome citizen science volunteers, we have nearly doubled the number of nextboxes we are monitoring. Several are new ones we have put up, and some were inherited from other groups who installed them with…

Manzanos will be closing down for the season on Nov 5. As of 10/29/2013, the site counted 4,900 raptor species and banded 697. Great work to the awesome crew up at Manzanos this year: Bob Baez (lead observer), Teresa Ely (Lead Bander), Sarah Dudek (observer), Ben Dudek (Bander), Ian Dolly…

Last update for the 2013 season from the Chelan Ridge crew: The season at Chelan Ridge has officially come to a close. This past week the crew packed up camp and moved it down the mountain. We are now preparing to move our separate ways after sharing two and a…