RPI Data Collection

The raptor migration data analyzed by the RPI project has been collected over many years at many independant raptor migration watch sites, each operating within their established protocols. Much of this data has been recorded on paper forms and more recently in online databases; many efforts are now underway to pull the historical paper forms into online databases such as hawkcount.org.

HMANA has established various data recording standards for use at hawk watch sites. As part of the RPI project, HMANA has generated a first version of a generalized site data collection protocol. This protocol may be used by individual hawk watch sites as a starting point in the generation of their own operating protocols.

Hawkcount.org is an online raptor migration database established by HMANA as a repository for raptor migration count data. It also allows hawk watch sites to distribute their observations during the migration season through email lists and the World Wide Web. The data entry procedure implemented at hawkcount.org follows the HMANA data collection protocols and standards. As a component of the RPI project, hawkcount.org also exports the raptor migration datasets in a format suitable for the project's statistical analysis procedures.