Hundreds of Swallow-tailed Kites are migrating south, passing by the Florida Keys HawkWatch. A variety of raptors will soon be on the move as adults and recently fledged birds begin to migrate to their wintering ranges (photo by Paul Konrad).

Although migration south is in its earliest stages, the August flights of kites, especially Swallow-tailed Kites, was already going strong by August 3rd. And the first Mississippi Kites are beginning to migrate too. The Florida Keys HawkWatch is the prime place to witness migrating Swallow-tailed Kites now, with as many as 311 counted August 3rd and 167 tallied last Sunday. But some hawks and Bald Eagles are also actively migrating, as evidenced by the early counts being posted at Braddock Bay near Rochester, New York. To date, Broad-winged Hawks are on the move (247 counted last Friday), along with Red-tailed Hawks (422 Friday), and Braddock counters have reported 9 species of raptors to date.

To keep in touch with the many raptor monitoring sites that will be operating in earnest from September to November, see daily totals coming in from Canada to the United States, Mexico to Costa Rica and Panama, and even Colombia as some raptors enter South America, especially Swainson’s Hawks and Broad-winged Hawks. Now you can observe the daily totals for August provided by the Florida Keys HawkWatch at HawkCount along with daily totals for Braddock Bay in August at HawkCount.

Corpus Christi HawkWatch in Texas is also starting to see early migrants, including 47 Mississippi Kites during Sunday’s observations and 27 Swallow-tailed Kites on Monday; see HawkCount. To access monthly counts for individual raptor count sites, click on the name of the site, then click on “Monthly” in the left column; and one more click on the “Go” button. The HawkCount Raptor Migration Database is provided by the Hawk Migration Association, as it has been for 50 years!