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…

There's a reason that people often use the expression "watch something like a hawk." Birds of prey come designed to see you, so to see these elusive species, special tools are required. As mostly solitary predators, these birds take up large territories to hunt, which only allows for a certain…

Utah’s West Desert is home to salt flats, sagebrush, mountains, and a military training area. This desert can be a harsh environment, but despite it all, some animals make their homes there. One such species is the Golden Eagle. In recent years, however, Utah’s Golden Eagle population has seen declines.…

Birds have been banded for science since the 1800s. When a band is re-sighted or recovered, scientists learn how long that bird has lived (longevity), where it came from, and where it moved to. HawkWatch International has banded over one hundred thousand raptors since the 80s. Re-sight and recovery reports…

Just as we all began to allow a collective sigh of relief as the worst of COVID-19 appears to be behind us, those of us in the bird world have another virus to deal with: highly pathogenic avian influenza. As we head into the busy spring and summer nesting season,…

We’ve reached the midway point of the spring count! Lucky for us Matt and Arthur have sent over this update letting you know how this season has gone and what is still yet to come. All photos by Matt Dickey Gunsight HawkWatch specializes in species that are scarcely seen elsewhere…

How long have you been volunteering with HawkWatch International?  This will be our 6th year! How did you get started volunteering with HWI? I was looking for volunteer opportunities I could do with my son. When we saw that we could monitor nest boxes for the smallest falcons in North…