What
Happens To Your Reports
Individuals
who submit reports on hawk migration in eastern Massachusetts
and Rhode Island contribute significantly to our knowledge of
hawk migration locally and on much a broader scale.
Local
Published Reports
The data submitted to EMHW are published in the annual Fall and
Spring EMHW Reports, sent to about 225 members. The data is also
submitted to
Bird Observer, our Massachusetts birding magazine
of record.
Online
Reports
Preliminary data phoned in to the hotline or emailed in will be
posted on MassBird, the Massachusetts birding listserv.
Major reports will also be posted to
Birdhawk,
the listserv for the
Hawk Migration Association of North America.
At any time you can also view recent daily reports for many hawk
watches, as well as daily, monthly and seasonal tallies for many
sites for the past several years.
Regional
& International Reports
All of our - your - data is then forwarded to the
NorthEast Hawk
Watch (NEHW), which we believe to be the oldest continuous regional
hawk watch in the world. NEHW consolidates our data into its annual
NEHW Report on migration throughout New England and portions of
New York and New Jersey. Our data is then passed on to the
Hawk
Migration Association of North America (HMANA), which publishes
two seasonal reports on migration throughout North America and
makes the data available to the government, academia, and amateurs
for research and analysis.
Electronic
Databases
Gradually,
HMANA data is being entered into an electronic database,
to make it more easily available to researchers. This is why
HMANA
is encouraging people to enter and submit their data digitally,
to facilitate data entry and access for researchers, both professional
and amateur.
How
Your Data is Used
Data is analyzed at all levels, and there is much to be learned.
Over the past twenty-five years, we have documented a significant
hawk migration, particularly through the central part of the state.
The data indicates a significant increase in the number of Turkey
Vultures, Ospreys, Bald Eagles, Cooper's Hawks, Merlins and Peregrine
Falcons migrating through the region. We've also documented an
apparent decline in the number of Northern Harriers, Sharp-shinned
Hawks, and American Kestrels migrating through the area. We're
learning more about what time of day the various species of hawks
tend to migrate, and which weather conditions are more favorable
for migrating hawks and for hawkwatchers.
We've
also seen a number of other creatures migrating, including large
numbers of hummingbirds, gulls, cormorants, geese and crows, not
to mention butterflies, particularly Monarchs. There's a lot to
be seen while hawkwatching, and much to be learned.
