This week the hawk count passed the milestone of 10,000 raptors tallied for the season! As of this update the count currently stands at 10,523 raptors since March 15th. In a strange turn of events, Broad-winged Hawk is the most common species, rather than Sharp-shinned. Just five times previously in the 40-year history of the WPBO hawk count has a season finished with Sharpies in second place to Broad-wingeds, and I suspect we are headed for the sixth. Sharpies have diminished to a trickle of immature birds, whereas the young Broad-wingeds have yet to arrive at the Point en masse. The current tally of Broad-winged is 3,845, edging out the current count of 3,360 Sharpies. Red-tailed Hawk is in a distant third place with just 823 individuals thus far.
While these numbers sound like a lot of birds, I actually have a rather long way to go in order to catch up to last year’s count at this point of 18,828 raptors or even the all-time season average of 18,049. So far this season six raptor species are ahead of the pace set during last year’s hawk count: Turkey Vulture (435 vs 395), Golden Eagle (87 vs. 71), Bald Eagle (494 vs. 424), Broad-winged Hawk (3,845 vs. 3,430), Rough-legged Hawk (608 vs. 262), and Peregrine Falcon (48 vs. 46). Nine other raptors are behind, with Sharp-shinned Hawk perhaps the most dramatic, with 11,450 as of May 17th, 2017 — a higher count than this year’s entire raptor total!
While the causes of this season’s low numbers are surely myriad, it is certain that the late winter, including a blizzard which dumped over two feet of snow in mid-April, can explain some of the sluggishness. There’s still nearly two weeks to go, and many more birds yet to come! Be sure to follow Dunkadoo and HawkCount to see how the remainder of the season unfolds.
Gary Palmer
Spring Hawk Counter
