Migration is in full wing! Each fall, hundreds of thousands of Broad-winged Hawks (Buteo platypterus) leave the northern forests for South America. They fill the sky in sometimes huge flocks that can contain thousands of birds at a time, and these “kettles” are a prime attraction at many hawkwatch sites. As they move from the broad stretches of North America to narrow parts of Central America their numbers get concentrated, leading people to describe places such as Veracruz, Mexico, and Panama as a “river of raptors.” Scientists used satellite transmitters to track four Broad-winged Hawks as they migrated south in the fall. The hawks migrated an average of 4,350 miles to northern South America, traveling 69 miles each day. Once on their wintering grounds the hawks did not move around much, staying on average within a 1-square-mile area. The oldest Broad-winged Hawk on record was at least 18 years, 4 months old when it was captured and release in Florida in 1987. Source: The Cornell Lab of Ornithology https://youtube/watch?v=fDEmDLMs3RI
Posted on: Thu, 02 Oct 2014 14:58:21 +0000
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