Raptors: The Birds of Prey

Activities

Activity 2

Counting Hawks

Teacher-led Classroom Activity
Science/Math

 

How has the number of migrating raptors observed at one location varied over 10 years?

Objective

Students apply graphing skills to raw data as they learn about the spring migration of raptors.

Students will need:

• “Hawk Mountain Spring Raptor Migration” data sheet (1 for each student)
• Pencils

Suggested time:

One class period

What to do

1. Review the concept of bird migration with students, so that they understand that certain birds, including many raptor species, travel each year between the places where they nest and raise their young and the places where they spend the winter. Then point out the fact found in “Raptor Newsfeed” on page 4 of their Raptors! The Birds of Prey student magazine: Swainson’s Hawks migrate about 12,400 miles roundtrip on their annual migration.
2. Distribute copies of the “Hawk Mountain Spring Raptor Migration” reproducible. Go over the content to make sure students understand the data presented and what they need to do.
3. When students have completed the graph and answered the questions, review the results with the class.

Extensions:

1. Raptor migration counts for more than 300 locations can be found at the Hawk Migration Association of North America’s (HMANA) Raptor Migration Database: http://www.hawkcount.org/. Ask students to use the interactive map feature on that website (http://www.hawkcount.org/sitesel.php) to identify the observation site nearest their home or other locations of interest to them.
2. Invite students to formulate their own questions to answer using the data presented on the HMANA website. Examples: Which raptors species is observed most often in a certain location at a certain time of year? What is the raptor species seen most often during migration at the observation location nearest me?

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Photos: Jim Verhagen;