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Hawk_Migration_Nature_Reflections

Feature Article April 29

Nature reflections October 28, 2004

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Hawk Migration

Autumn is the time when hawks are seen in migration from their summer haunts to the areas they frequent in winter, and autumn is the time when bird watchers head toward vantage points such as Hawk Cliff on the north shore of Lake Erie to see these magnificent birds. At Hawk Cliff numbers of different hawks, falcons, vultures and eagles seen are counted over a significant number of hours as migration occurs. The results can be astonishing.

As of early October this year no less than 14,894 Broad-winged Hawks were counted as they headed south from their breeding areas in northern forests. On Sep. 18 a total of 6074 of these birds were seen, with another 6042 on Sep 10, and 2,270 on Sep 19. No other species came close to these numbers. The migration depends on weather conditions, particularly winds that will help the birds in their flight, so there are always days when there are few birds flying over, but imagine how magnificent it would be to watch over 6000 birds passing over in one day - the watchers must be thrilled. Often flying in large, loose flocks, numbers of birds may be estimated - how do you count individuals in a flock of a thousand?

Go back to spring, particularly May, and when the oak has freshly-opened leaves and the warblers are migrating through the trees, you might find a pair of Broad-winged Hawks establishing their nesting territory. Broad-winged Hawks are usually the last of the raptors to migrate north in the spring. Possibly mated for life, a pair will express their love in nuptial flights in which both birds flap or soar in small circles, perhaps passing close to each other, or darting down at one another in a playful mood. Their nest, usually small and rather poorly built will be placed at moderate height, sometimes in the crotch of the tree, or against the trunk on a horizontal branch. Or perhaps they make over an old squirrels nest or nest of another species of hawk. Apparently they do not necessarily return to the same nest or even the same area in which to nest.

Usually two eggs are laid and after incubation both parents will care for the hatchlings, bringing them a variety of food including small animals and birds, small snakes, frogs and toads, and beetles, grasshoppers, dragonflies and other insects, including larvae of large moths, as well as earthworms and spiders. After fledging the young will still be cared for by the adults for some time. But woe to an immature that returns to its parents territory the following spring - they are unmercifully driven away - the parent-offspring bond no longer exists.

So it is autumn, and the Broad-winged Hawk is one of the earliest of the hawks to start migrating, and where do they go? Their main winter range is northwestern South America and Central America and occasionally north into southern Mexico. Here they feed and wait until the migration urge starts them on their remarkable journey north again the following spring. The hawk watchers will be waiting!

With the participation of the Government of Canada