More than a million Swainson’s Hawks and Turkey Vultures passed by Panama’s premier count site last Saturday! Some of the raptors and vultures are making their first migration south, like the Swainson’s Hawk pictured above (photos by Paul Konrad).
Imagine the progress of hawks and vultures migrating in the tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, and even topping a million during prime migration days when the sky fills with soaring Swainson’s Hawks, Turkey Vultures, and Broad-winged Hawks. This, as they migrate south along migration corridors stretching along the Gulf and Caribbean from Veracruz, Mexico to similar hawkwatch sites in Costa Rica and Panama on their way even farther south to wintering areas in Brazil, Argentina, and neighboring countries.
Some recent mega-high raptor and vulture counts to the south include Saturday’s totals near Veracruz, Mexico at Cardel that totaled 169,598, which included 6,866 Swainson’s Hawks, 162,034 Turkey Vultures, 353 American Kestrels, and 201 Broad-winged Hawks among a total of 11 raptor species.
Last Wednesday, October 22, the Costa Rica hotspot of Ecovida reported 205,446 raptors and vultures with a seasonal high of 164,474 Swainson’s Hawks plus 39,734 Turkey Vultures and 623 Broad-winged Hawks.
The next day in Panama, biologists at Bocas Valle de Agua reported more than a million a hawks and vultures (a total of 1,164,510 !!),which included 619,772 Swainson’s Hawks, 517,507 Turkey Vultures, and 27,187 Broad-winged Hawks! The same day 2 other Panama count sites also tallied 91,725 at Cerro Alcon and 42,243 more at Bocas Gavilan Ridge.
The takeaway from these monumental fall migration numbers is that most Broad-winged Hawks have already passed the Central American count sites, but Swainson’s Hawks and Turkey Vultures are still reaching some peak numbers as they stream through Mexico and Central America. Even so, we know there are more Turkey Vultures on the way south, because the Detroit River Hawk Watch in Michigan reported 8,281 vultures last Saturday, and Holiday Beach Hawk Watch in Ontario posted 7,756 Turkey Vultures Sunday.
On a smaller scale, but providing an insight into the changing season, new birds from the north are appearing at Hawk Ridge in Duluth, Minnesota, including American Goshawks, Rough-legged Hawks, and Golden Eagles, plus Pine Grosbeaks, Northern Shrikes, Boreal Chickadees, Snow Buntings, Lapland Longspurs, Redpolls, and more.
It is always interesting to check in on the daily migration totals on the HawkCount website, provided by the Hawk Migration Association at HawkCount. When you click on the name of one of the count sites, you will see a page with that site’s species totals; and click on the word “Monthly” in the left column to see how the migration has progressed throughout the month of October.
