KEMPTON, Pa. — A broad-winged hawk named May, tracked as part of a conservation research project in the Lehigh Valley area, successfully migrated through Hurricane Milton in Florida last month.
“We were a bit concerned about her when the storm hit so close to our last signal from her, but then the next day we got her detailed data and discovered her flight to Homestead, south of Miami,” said Rebecca McCabe, a research biologist at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary. “There are no health trackers on this transmitter as that is not possible at this size unit.
“We suspect she is doing fine, given her behavior.”
Last month, researchers watched as May, an immature female who was trapped and banded last year in Cape May Point State Park, flew through the hurricane, which made landfall Oct. 9 near Siesta Key, Fla., as a devastating Category 3 storm. Amid the damaging winds and rain, May successfully made it to her overwintering grounds in the Sunshine State for the second year in a row.
May is one of several included in The Broad-winged Hawk Project, a decade-long conservation research effort at Hawk Mountain.
“These data are used to learn more about the movement behavior of this long-distance migrant, and determine migratory routes, wintering locations and important stopover areas during migration, and the habitat the birds use during nesting, migration and winter so we can better protect such sites in the future,” McCabe said.
May and Milton
Transmitter data showed May was just outside of Fort Myers on Oct. 8, the day before Hurricane Milton made landfall.
The storm, which made landfall about 8:30 p.m. Oct. 9, also spawned a handful of tornadoes and severely damaged communities, many which were still in the middle of recovering from Hurricane Helene.
"This means that May flew 200 km (124 mi) across southern Florida during the hurricane!"The Broad-winged Hawk Project
“At noon on Wednesday, Oct. 9, we have a location from May in North Fort Myers, and her next location came in on Thursday at 2 p.m. in South Miami Heights,” according to a post on the project’s Facebook page. “This means that May flew 200 km (124 mi) across southern Florida during the hurricane!”
May arrived back in Homestead the following day, according to the post. Her migration this year, from where she summered in New England to southern Florida, took a little over a month.
The Broad-winged Hawk Project has been going on for a decade.
“The study was started because broad-winged Hawks were declining in some parts of their range, so we are attempting to collect detailed information that might illuminate what threats they might face,” said McCabe. “The transmitters have a lifespan of 2+ years.
“We use what is called a ‘backpack’ harness (made of a non-abrasive material called Spectra or Teflon) that sits on the birds just like a human backpack. The transmitter, which is attached to the Teflon/Spectra backpack, sits on the bird's back.”
Eight birds, including May, are still being tracked, transmitting live data to Hawk Mountain’s website. The map shows May still in Homestead.
May is the first in the study to migrate and winter in Florida — her flightpath is highlighted in lavender on the map — and has done so for both of her migration seasons.
It’s not unusual for these raptors to return to the same area each year; they often show strong site fidelity.
“This is exciting as most broad-winged hawks winter in Mexico, Central and South America, along with a small population wintering in the state of Florida,” McCabe said. “We are seeking to understand more about this population.”
Raptor research
In September, a special anniversary edition of the project’s newsletter was published, chronicling a decade of conservation research.
So far, more than 65 adults and juvenile broad-winged hawks have been banded through the project, 40 tagged with satellite or GPS transmitters, according to data included in the newsletter.
“Hawk Mountain continues to collaborate with many other organizations, publishing our research in peer-reviewed journals, giving talks to the public and scientific community and using the broad-winged hawk as a model for raptor conservation.”Rebecca McCabe, research biologist at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary
The effort has also spurred engagement, with officials giving more than 40 talks to the public and at scientific conferences, as well as eight peer-reviewed articles.
“Hawk Mountain continues to collaborate with many other organizations, publishing our research in peer-reviewed journals, giving talks to the public and scientific community and using the broad-winged hawk as a model for raptor conservation,” McCabe said.
Threats to broad-winged hawks are similar to those facing many species of raptors.
Habitat loss, including land use changes like development and forest fragmentation, forest fires, illegal mining and shooting are all threats to this species as well as many other raptor species in our region, McCabe said.
The sanctuary each spring and fall, since the 1960s and 1934, respectively, studies annual migration patterns of many different species of raptors, including broad-winged hawks.
This year’s spring migration count, which ran from April 1 through mid-May, saw a record number of bald eagles. With a season-ending total of 87, it was 74% above the 10-year average.
The fall count is still underway. It began mid-August and runs through mid-December, generally averaging 18,000 raptors with one-day peak counts of more than 3,000 birds during September.
But Hawk Mountain is just one of the organizations in the region to count raptors each year.
Lehigh Gap Nature Center’s annual autumn Bake Oven Knob Hawk Watch is also underway. A tradition in its 64th year, volunteers count birds of prey as they migrate along the raptor "superhighway" in the Valley’s backyard.
Interested in volunteering with either count? The Lehigh Gap Nature Center and Hawk Mountain Sanctuary have ways to get involved on their websites.
