Meet the 2017 Manzanos Crew
Text by Sarah Hecocks Greetings from the Manzano Mountains HawkWatch! Two weeks in and things are really starting to pick up as far as fall migration goes. As I type the words you’re reading, the cool westward winds whip and blow the canvas of our wall tent that the crew…
Meet the 2017 Goshutes Crew
Text and photos by Casey Weissburg Fall migration is well underway here at the Goshute Mountains HawkWatch, as we enter our fourth week of counting with over 1,300 raptors migrated already, and almost 150 trapped and banded, including our first Golden Eagle of the season, three Northern Goshawks, and even…
HawkWatch International Partners with the University of Utah to Study Raptors in Africa
HawkWatch International and the University of Utah are partnering on two studies in the Horn of Africa: a new effort studying raptor migration over the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait in Djibouti, and a continuation of vulture extinction studies based in Ethiopia. Evan Buechley, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Utah, will…
Raptor Fun Facts: Ultraviolet Sensors
Sponsored by Did you know that some species of raptor can see ultraviolet light? This is helpful because small mammals such as voles and mice mark their tracks with urine, and urine is a substance that reflects ultraviolet light. Because of this, some raptors are able to see the…
Mountain Outlaw Magazine story
Max Lowe, Forest Woodard, and Charles Post took a road trip last fall (2016) to follow the raptor migration and document HawkWatch International's migration research. Here's a great photographic story by the group features in Mountain Outlaw magazine's Summer 2017 edition. (Click the image below to view the PDF.)
Raptor Fun Facts: Osprey
Sponsored by Did you know that Ospreys have specialized feet for grasping fish? Osprey have acutely curved talons, and the bottom of their feet have tiny spines called "spicules" that help them maintain a firm grip on slippery fish, their main prey. While most raptors have three toes in…
Grant received for HawkWatch and partners to research effects of climate change on American Kestrels
The Department of Defense (DoD) has awarded a team of researchers, led by Boise State University biological sciences professor Julie Heath, a four-year, $1.7 million grant to monitor the effects of climate change on American kestrels and develop a modeling system that can be used broadly to predict how other…
Letter to Utah Congressional Delegation in support of maintaining and strengthening the Endangered Species Act
April 2017 My name is Paul Parker and I am the Executive Director of HawkWatch International. I am writing to you today to share my thoughts about the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and to urge you to ensure its continued viability and utilization as one of our country’s most important…
Raptor Fun Facts: Built-in Gyroscopes
Sponsored by Have you ever watched a raptor perched on a windy day, hover in the air or perch on an object that is unstable or wobbly? Next time you see one in this type of scenario, check out how their body moves back and forth while their head…