Black Hawk Up – Festival at Tubac HawkWatch
March 13 - March 18
Thursday 03/13 – Sunday 03/18, 9:00 AM – 2:00 PM
It’s peak week at the Tubac HawkWatch! Join HWI and the Tubac Nature Center for a week celebrating spring migration. This is a family-friendly event with free activities in the park to coincide with the peak flight of the Common Black Hawk migration. You can expect to hawkwatch alongside experts daily, shop birdy merch and optics, and meet live Raptor Ambassadors.
On Optics Days, you can shop and try out the latest binoculars with the best optics dealers, including Kowa, Swarovski, Zeiss, Lecia, and Vortex. Don’t forget to stop at HawkWatch International, Tubac Nature Center, and Tucson Bird Alliance for some bird merch!
Festival Schedule
Thursday, March 13th: Kid’s Day
- HawkWatch International Tabling
- 8:00 AM-9:00 AM: Family Walk with Nature Scavenger Hunt
- 10:00 AM-10:30 AM: Meet Pancho, the Tumacacori National Historical Park mascot
- 11:30 AM-12:30 PM: Raptor Ambassador Meet and Greet
Friday, March 14th: Nonprofit Day
- HawkWatch International Tabling
- 11:00 AM-1:00 PM: Raptor Ambassador Meet and Greet
- 1:00 PM: “Tips for IDing Birds” with Luke Safford, Director of Engagement at Tucson Birding Alliance, at the Tubac Community Center
Saturday, March 15th: Optics Days
- HawkWatch International Tabling
- 7:15 AM: Bird walk with Tubac Nature Center and Tucson Bird Alliance, Register Here
- 9:00 AM-11:00 AM: Raptor Ambassador Meet and Greet
- 11:00 AM: Bird walk with Tubac Nature Center and Tucson Bird Alliance, Register Here
- 11:00 AM: “Everything you wanted to know about the Common Black Hawk but were afraid to ask!” from Peter Collins, site founder, at the Tubac HawkWatch
- 3:00-4:00 PM: Reading with Raptors at the Tubac Community Center
Sunday, March 16th: Optics Days
- HawkWatch International Tabling
- 7:15 AM: Bird walk with Tubac Nature Center and Tucson Bird Alliance, Register Here
- 11:00 AM: Bird walk with Tubac Nature Center and Tucson Bird Alliance, Register Here
- 11:00 AM-1:00 PM: Raptor Ambassador Meet and Greet
- 1:00 PM: “Why we watch hawks and how we use count data to assess population trends” by Dr. Dave Oleyar, HWI’s Director of Long-term Monitoring & Community Science, at the Tubac Community Center
Monday, March 17th: Optics Days
- 7:15 AM: Bird walk with Tubac Nature Center and Tucson Bird Alliance, Register Here
- 11:00 AM: Bird walk with Tubac Nature Center and Tucson Bird Alliance, Register Here
Tuesday, March 18th: Optics Days
- 7:15 AM: Bird walk with Tubac Nature Center and Tucson Bird Alliance, Register Here
- 11:00 AM: Bird walk with Tubac Nature Center and Tucson Bird Alliance, Register Here
Accommodations
For a list of hotels and restaurants, click here
Can’t Attend the Festival but Still Want to Visit the Site?
HWI counters will be at the site daily from February 15th through April 30th. Tubac Nature Center will also be tabling for the whole month of March, which you can learn more about here.
This festival is sponsored by Tubac Nature Center, HawkWatch International, Tucson Bird Alliance, and Kowa Optics