The Hawk Migration Association of North America (HMANA) is a membership-based organization committed to the conservation of raptors through the scientific study, enjoyment, and appreciation of raptor migration.
The first HMANA North American Winter Raptor Survey started in February of 2007 in the Northeastern and Midwestern parts of North America. The Birdfreak Team checked on locations nearby, but found none within Illinois. (New project time!) The surveys can be done from late November through early March, anywhere in North America.
The purpose of the HMANA Winter Raptor Survey is to get birders/raptor enthusiasts out in the field during the winter looking for diurnal raptors, and to provide those surveyors with a set of guidelines enabling them to record their observations in a standardized format.
If you are thinking of starting your own winter raptor survey, don’t delay! It sounds like a lot of fun.
This is a great method to collect wintering raptor information and can be useful to various researchers and regional birding organizations.
We had so many red tailed hawks where I lived in Canada. Down here in the deep south we don’t see many raptors at all.
There have been Winter Raptor Surveys conducted in Illinois every winter since 2005, by as many as 30 volunteers.
Thanks for the info, Janice. At the time we posted this we could not find any Illinois raptor survey information online.