How did you fall in love with birds?
See videos of scientists and staff at the Lab of Ornithology describing how they first became interested in birds!
Ernesto Ruelas-Inzunza -- Raptor Population Index Project Manager
When Ernesto was 13 a hunter gave him an injured American Kestrel. The bird died but his interest in birds and nature grew. With no binoculars or field guide he used his sketchbook and pencil to record what he saw.
Ernesto Ruelas-Inzunza helped discover that over 5 million hawks, kites, falcons and vultures migrate down Mexico’s East Coast every fall. Scientists had no idea how many birds were flying through this area until Ernesto and colleagues studied hawk migration. Ernesto counts hawks…at many places in North America, and then at several places in Mexico during migration.
It is really important to protect the hawks and the habitat they rely on, especially in areas like Veracruz, where so many birds pass during migration. Lots of the land that hawks fly over is farmland, without big trees. The birds have a hard time hunting for food and roosting in safe places. People who shoot doves also shoot the hawks. Pesticides intended for insects may poison the birds. Organophosphates killed tens of thousands of hawks in their winter area in Argentina in the 1990's.
The hawks use the wind that follows the line of mountains on the east coast of Mexico, and now people want to use this same steady wind to power giant windmills to make electricity, but windmills might kill hawks that fly into their rotors. Studying where, when, and how many birds pass through an area can help conservationists plan for their survival.
Hawk Mountain, Pennsylvania
