In addition, some hawks in the south, remain on territory, or nearby within a few to a hundred miles or so. Those who do not shift south very far, may reappear on territory for nesting sooner than actual migrants will be seen migration back North in Spring. I had always wondered why we can't count the earlier birds as migrants at an earlier date. The answer, is they may have been "locals." But even this shift cannot be gaged without the counts, so if they can meet "migration criteria" they are counted as moving South, in fall stats.
I include in the following list a single site in the Panama region, which shares an article:
Heading South: migrating raptors, By: Jorge Ventocilla. This link shares the importance of the counts etc. conducted in the narrow land masses between North and South America, in the greater understanding of the migration status of all species of birds. And of course that includes hawks. It's good info to set up our answers to the question of - Where do migration Hawks go?
I am going to give you the copy pasted statements directly off of Wikipedia's many sites about each species we count. I have yet to find a site that simply gives this information on one page. But by doing this two things can happen. I cannot know the current status of when the information on each was updated, and what year the data was last referenced to. In other words, I don't know if the materials in every reference are from information after 2015 for instance, or from earlier data. So it might have changed slightly.
Secondly, Wikipedia recently sent me a link saying the continued existence of the site is in jeopardy, due to it's donation only status. In other words, it has no adds, which we love, but it depends on donations to stay up. There fore the links over time may be lost. But the information presently is the result of information found almost exclusively on their site, which also gives links to it's referenced materials. It is encyclopedic in nature, and may change in future years.
But migration being what it is, in general, the information for now can be considered accurate until otherwise reproofed. The following species after the migration article, are primarily the ones we on Soddy Mountain Hawk Watch count and report:
(As I said last blog about the subject, I may make a page either referencing the blogs which include the data found, &/or the list. Look for it soon.)
Migration Article:
25 Oct 2012
Heading South: migrating raptors, By: Jorge Ventocilla
Web page/article of BIOMUSEO, of Western Panama -A museum showing the world of the value of
the Isthmus to the Biology and balance of the Americas.
_______________________________________
Broad-winged Hawk
Wikipedia map for yr round range of Broad-winged Hawks
“they then migrate south to winter
in the neotropics from Mexico down to southern Brazil.[2] Other subspecies are
all-year residents on Caribbean islands”
____________________________________________
Cooper’s Hawk
“some Cooper's hawks winter as far south as Panama”
Sharp-Shinned
Hawk
The
Sharp Shinned Hawk of 4 Genus are wide spread throughout the Americas and
Panama. But the species which nests and generally
inhabits NA can move south as far as Costa Rica, but may go only to Panama or
Cuba. There are some exceptions of birds
moving onto Island areas. But seldom further south of our birds. SS species of all kinds – some migrate and
some not so much.
Red-Tailed Hawk
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-tailed_hawk
“Red-tailed Hawks Range into Lower Mexico and beyond, but most Canadian
and US migrants shift south. Northern
birds may go no further than S. Canada, N American birds to S. Kansas or
Louisiana. Other migrants out of the east
go no further than Louisiana, or some to Florida. Some in the south will go as far as
Nicaragua. They simply do not seem to
make the long treks of some other migrant Raptors. They also get started later. Thus it makes sense that they can make the shift. There are many sub-species and it seems that
certain subs go in similar migratory directions, much as Sharpies do.”
Northern Harrier
“It migrates to more southerly areas in winter with breeding
birds in more northerly areas moving to the southernmost USA, Mexico, and
Central America. In milder regions in the southern US, they may be present all
year, but the higher ground is largely deserted in winter”
___________________________________
Osprey
“American and Canadian breeders winter in South America,
although some stay in the southernmost U.S. states such as Florida and
California.[54] Some ospreys from Florida migrate to South America”
“in South America it occurs only as a non-breeding migrant”
Red-Shouldered Hawk
“Red-shouldered hawks are
permanent residents throughout most of their range, though northern birds do
migrate, mostly to central Mexico.”
Peregrine Falcon
“In mild-winter regions, it is
usually a permanent resident, and some individuals, especially adult males,
will remain on the breeding territory. Only populations that breed in Arctic
climates typically migrate great distances during the northern winter”
Merlin
Species Dispersal:
“Falco columbarius columbarius (Linnaeus, 1758) – taiga
merlin, tundra merlin
Canada and northernmost United States east of Rocky Mountains, except Great Plains.
Migratory, winters in S North America, Central America, the Caribbean, and N
South America from the Guyanas to the northern Andes foothills. Rarely winters
in the northern USA.[3][13]Falco columbarius richardsonii (Ridgway, 1871) –
prairie merlin
Great Plains from Alberta to Wyoming. Resident (some winter
dispersal).Falco columbarius suckleyi (Ridgway, 1873) – coastal forest merlin,
black merlin
Pacific coast of North America,
from S Alaska to N Washington state. Resident (some altitudinal movements).”
“American kestrels in Canada and
the northern United States typically migrate south in the winter, sometimes
going as far as Central America and the Caribbean. Birds that breed south of
about 35° north latitude are usually year-round residents. Migration also
depends on local weather conditions.[27] Wintering kestrels' choice of habitat
varies by sex. Females are found in open areas more often than males during the
non-breeding season. A common explanation for this behavior is that the larger
females arrive at the preferred habitat first and exclude males from their territory”
Bald Eagle
“There are two recognized subspecies of bald eagle:[2][22]
H. l. leucocephalus (Linnaeus, 1766) is the nominate
subspecies. It is found in the southern United States and Baja California
Peninsula.[23]
H. l. washingtoniensis (Audubon, 1827), synonym H. l.
alascanus Townsend, 1897, the northern subspecies, is larger than southern
nominate leucocephalus . It is found in the northern United States, Canada and
Alaska…..
(a range map on the web site indicates the movements of Bald
Eagles from nesting areas to wintering grounds.)
, northern birds are migratory, while southern birds are
resident, remaining on their breeding territory all year.
Bald eagles will also congregate
in certain locations in winter. From November until February, one to two
thousand birds winter in Squamish, British Columbia, about halfway between
Vancouver and Whistler. The birds primarily gather along the Squamish and
Cheakamus Rivers, attracted by the salmon spawning in the area”
Turkey Vulture
“It is a permanent resident in
the southern United States, though northern birds may migrate as far south as
South America”
Black Vulture
“It is usually a permanent
resident throughout its range, although birds at the extreme north of its range
may migrate short distances, and others across their range may undergo local
movements in unfavourable conditions.“
(in at least the last several
years, and occasionally in other earlier years, we, across Tennessee, have
experienced both the congregation of large numbers of Blacks in the Winter, and
also this shift of some of these large numbers to the south . Food, large
snows, or other environmental issues may be the cause. Northern birds are possibly joining our
Southern birds. There are days when
Jimmy and I have crossed Middle Tennessee, and you can see either TV kettles,
or BV kettles stretched for miles moving south.
There are discussions on whether these shifts can be counted as migrations,
but the same occurs in other species to a greater extent, like Bald Eagles, so
the movement documentation is valuable for determining range maps, and habitat
change, or winter food sources, etc.)
From extreme North to the tip of Argentina, migration stats remain the primary way our understanding of where hawks go in migrations, both Fall and Spring. The article which begins the references on this page gives a great historic indication of people curious about this movement, and how exactly it evolved for them. I am sure the history would show an attention to hawk migration for thousands of years almost anywhere you go in the US or the world. Our records are not the only ones, even for our area. Jimmy loves to read the archived information from the 50's for our area. But until 1993, no one spot in our area had been manned consistently, and had both spring and winter data, other than our site. In Tennessee, we are proud to add to the understanding and the cumulation of data, plus the display of data for all to see, especially in respect to the people who contributed to the collection of it.
It is so you may know, the we have been able to ~
KEEP LOOKING UP!!!
