page_title: Hawkwatching
section_title: Techniques and equipment
hierarchical_section_title: Hawkwatching / Techniques and equipment
caption_attribution_description: English: A high flying Osprey passes the Allegheny Front Hawk Watch as it migrates south for the winter. The distinct M-shape of the silhouette is a key identifier for this species.
context_page_description: Hawkwatching is a mainly citizen science activity where experienced volunteers count migratory raptors in an effort to survey migratory numbers. Groups of hawkwatchers often congregate along well-known migratory routes such as mountain ridges, coastlines and land bridges, where raptors ride on updrafts created by the topography. Hawkwatches are often formally or informally organized by non-profit organizations such as an Audubon chapter, state park, wildlife refuge or other important birding area. Some hawkwatches remain independent of any organizing structure.
  Most hawkwatchers post their count numbers each day to hawkcount.org, a nonprofit website that coordinates hawkwatching data. Other platforms such as eBird are also used, but usually include other types of birds.
context_section_description: Hawkwatchers usually use binoculars, spotting scopes, and cameras to aid in the identification of flying raptors. Unlike other forms of birding, auditory cues are rare, for many raptors do not vocalize in flight. Instead, hawkwatchers rely on shape, flight behavior and plumage to identify raptors. Several books specialize in learning hawk identification, which is usually challenging because of the distances and the speed at which the raptors migrate. Hawks At A Distance and Hawks From Every Angle by Jerry Liguori help hawkwatchers identify raptors that are high in the sky, at odd angles, and appear unusually small. Unlike typical field guides, these books describe birds' motion, temperament and personality, something most significantly described in Hawks in Flight by Dunne, Sibley, and Sutton as gestalt. 
  Hawkwatchers who want greater detail on subspecies view photo field guides like Raptors of Western North America and Raptors of Eastern North America by Brian K. Wheeler, and his updated 2018 field guides with paintings, Birds of Prey of the West and Birds of Prey of the East.
caption: A high flying osprey passes the Allegheny Front Hawk Watch as it migrates south for the winter. The distinct M-shape of the silhouette is a key identifier for this species.
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