Hawk Migration

Most hawks, falcons, and eagles migrate south for the winter. Now, everyone's definition of "south" is different. For example, bald eagles and owls actually migrate to our area for the winter. (That's because where they are coming from is even colder.) But the majority of the raptors do make their way to the sunshine belt. The peak migration time is late Sept and early Oct, and during those times, if you place yourself in the right spot, you can see hundreds of hawks in a day, if not an hour. Most of the pictures below were taken in just such a spot, Hawk Mountain preserve in PA:

Broad-Winged Hawks:




Northern Harrier:

This is a female. Note how her face looks more like an owl's!

Another Northern Harrier:


Red-Tailed Hawk:

Some red-tailed hawks migrate south, while some remain year-round residents in their locations.

Merlin:

Merlin is a type of falcon.

Osprey flying through a flock of starlings:


Cooper's Hawk:

This guy tried to steal a bird from the bird feeder in my backyard. Was not successful, though. He hit a window and afterwards perched on a nearby tree, where I was able to take this picture.

What do you call a bunch of Broad-Winged Hawks migrating together? A "kettle". That's right, this is a kettle of broad-winged hawks: