Introduction to North American Raptor Conservation Species Assessments

We provide species assessments based on trend analyses through 2019 from more than 65 raptor migration count sites across North America spanning from Canada to Mexico.

In the assessments, we provide a summary of the continental and regional migration count trends for each species and highlight species of concern. For complete and/or long-distance migrants such as Osprey, Broad-winged Hawk, Swainson’s Hawk, and Mississippi Kite, where essentially the entire population migrates out of its breeding range to a separate wintering range, the migration count trends provide a reliable assessment of actual population trends. For partial and short-distance migrants such as the Red-tailed Hawk and Cooper’s Hawk, there is evidence that some species may be shifting their migratory behavior or wintering ranges in response to climate change and other factors (Bolgiano, 2013; Paprocki, et al, 2017).

Another factor to consider in viewing the trends is that other species (e.g., Golden Eagle, Peregrine Falcon) have resident populations that may not be well-represented in the migration count data. Therefore, it is important to review results from multiple datasets, including the Christmas Bird Count (CBC, https://netapp.audubon.org/cbcobservation/) and Breeding Bird Survey (BBS, https://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbs/results/), for a complete picture of the population status of many raptor species. In these assessments, we also briefly discuss CBC trends where those data augment the findings from the migration count results.

• Black Vulture
• Turkey Vulture
• Osprey
• Bald Eagle
• Northern Harrier
• Sharp-shinned Hawk
• Cooper’s Hawk
• Northern Goshawk
• Red-shouldered Hawk
• Red-tailed Hawk
• Rough-legged Hawk
• Broad-winged Hawk
• Ferruginous Hawk
• Swainson’s Hawk
• Gray Hawk
• White-tailed Hawk
• Zone-tailed Hawk
• Golden Eagle
• American Kestrel
• Merlin
• Peregrine Falcon
• Prairie Falcon
• Swallow-tailed Kite
• Mississippi Kite
• White-tailed Kite

Please cite these pages as:

D. Oleyar, D. Ethier, L. Goodrich, D. Brandes, R. Smith, J. Brown, and J. Sodergren. 2021. The Raptor Population Index: 2019 Analyses and Assessments.