Why start a hawkwatch?
Observers count raptors at established hawkwatches for recreational, educational, monitoring, and scientific purposes. The Hawk Migration Association of North America encourages new and existing hawkwatches as a way to educate people about the importance of raptors and to collect scientifically valid data. These long-term data sets (e.g. >10 years) can be analyzed to determine population trends and compared with data from other monitoring sites to monitor fluctuations in the overall and regional populations of North American raptors. There is much yet to learn about migrating raptors, especially in areas of the country where few sites are located including the Adirondacks, southern states, Great Plains, Canada and the West Coast.
