This is the time of year when many birders gather together to watch for hawks. The reason for this is because hawks and other raptors, as well as many other species of birds, migrate during the spring and fall. The common term used to describe this is Hawk Watch, and you can learn all about it here.

Hawks are a fairly large group of birds and their soaring flight is graceful and mesmerizing. When hawks migrate, they cover great distances by riding thermals and catching waves. If this sounds like surfing to you, well, that is a pretty good way to think of it. Columns of hot air form thermals, which hawks “ride” high into the air. They also gain altitude via updrafts that form as wind blows up the side of mountain ranges. The hawks are experts at using these thermals and waves to travel great distances with minimal effort. During hawk watch (migration) times, birders are often extra-aware of hawks, eagerly looking and listening for them.

This Blue-Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) was hopping around above me as I sat under my Shumard Red Oak (Quercus shumardii) tree. I was enjoying the cool morning breeze, working on my project to build a natural-looking feeding station. The Blue-Jay wanted me to leave and he was letting me hear about it, in his typical, harsh squawk. I couldn’t help laughing when he abruptly switched to his best hawk imitation! Blue-Jays are fair mimics, and they often mimic the cry of hawks to scare off other birds. And humans!