The Raptor Population Index (RPI) is a collaborative effort to understand and share trends and conservation status of migratory raptors in North America, continent-wide and regionally. Each year thousands of people gather on ridgelines, coastlines, and other concentration points across the globe to watch migrating raptors during the fall and spring. This awe-inspiring event provides a fun and accessible point of entry to bird watching and in-flight identification to the public, while also generating decades of standardized monitoring data from sites across North America. These count data also have value for those interested in the status and conservation of raptors.