Ecovida HawkWatch is a relatively new raptor migration monitoring site located in northern Costa Rica, but it is already catching the attention of birders and ornithologists alike as a result of the impressive numbers of birds of prey being documented daily throughout the spring and fall migration periods. During the recent spring migration counts, hundreds of thousands of raptors were recorded as they migrated north – primarily Swainson’s Hawks, Broad-winged Hawks, and Mississippi Kites. Fall migration numbers are even more impressive!

To give you an introduction into just how impressive the recent spring migration was, no less than 67,288 Swainson’s Hawks, 55,196 Broad-winged Hawks, and 12,634 Mississippi Kites were counted, along with 267,101 Turkey Vultures (mostly counted during April).

Fall migration was even more impressive, with 331,471 Swainson’s Hawks, 181,588 Broad-winged Hawks, and 184,805 Mississippi Kites, with 904,012 Turkey Vultures – mostly counted during the month of October. In fact, the overall raptor total for last fall (including vultures) was more than 1½ million, with the actual total count recorded as 1,629,385!

A Live Presentation by Ecovida Raptor Biologists

If you are interested in learning more, and we believe you will be, 2 Ecovida HawkWatch biologists will be providing a live presentation that’s being featured by HawkWatch International (HWA) next Wednesday, June 18 at 12pm EDT. Presented by Costa Rica biologists Kenneth Acuna Vargas and Randall Montoya Solano, you can learn about this exciting new HawkWatch location and the birds that are thrilling visiting birders. Ecovida HawkWatch is located in the lowlands of the tropical rainforest in northern Costa Rica at Refugio Lapa Verde, where biologists and volunteers have only been studying raptor migration since 2022.

Learn how the census raptors from their impressive observation tower, as well as the seasonality, species, and numbers of raptors they count each season. They will also explore how a local community turned raptor migration into a celebration – focused on education, conservation, and culture around birds – and created Costa Rica’s first international raptor festival, with the support of partner organizations.

This program is Free and open to everyone who are interested by simply registering at Meeting Registration - Zoom. HawkWatch International will also live stream the program on their Facebook page, and for birders who aren’t able to join the live presentation, recordings of this program will be available on the HMA website following the event at Hawk Migration Association (scroll down to the “What’s New?” section).

To review daily, monthly, and fall migration counts for each species observed at Ecovida Hawkwatch in Costa Rica at HawkCount and note that you can change the month and year of observations in the box in the upper left side of the webpage.

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Caption: Swainson’s Hawks migrating between their nesting range in western North America and wintering areas in Argentina are the most abundant raptors counted during spring and fall at Escovida HawkWatch (photo by Paul Konrad).