October designated “Hawk Mountain Migration Month” in Pennsylvania

Representative Jamie Barton has announced a resolution to designate October 2024 as "Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Migration Month" in Pennsylvania, which overwhelmingly passed the House on October 2.

“Hawk Mountain Sanctuary draws visitors from around the world, and the 124th Legislative District is so lucky to be home to this international treasure,” Barton said.

“Busloads of school students travel to Hawk Mountain for field trips, and the manicured trails offer hikers the opportunity to see raptors in the wild with multiple lookouts. This certainly shows the bipartisan support for the Sanctuary and, hopefully, this resolution can continue to raise awareness about the important work being done at Hawk Mountain!” Barton added.

Hawk Mountain is positioned atop the Kittatinny Ridge that runs 185 miles across Pennsylvania and is part of the eastern Appalachian Mountains that create favorable updrafts and acts as a superhighway for migration. Raptors utilize the favorable winds to cover hundreds of miles daily in an energy efficient way. The month of October brings with it the peak of fall colors and raptor species diversity during the migration. It is the perfect time for visitors, new and old, to discover Pennsylvania’s amazing natural beauty with a hike along our eight miles of trails, 2,800 acres of protected lands.

“We would like to thank Representative Barton for championing this resolution, and all of the members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for working together on behalf of conservation and the Commonwealth,” says Hawk Mountain President Sean Grace.

“Hawk Mountain is the first raptor conservation organization and raptor sanctuary in the world, and in 2024 we are celebrating our 90th anniversary,” says Hawk Mountain President Sean Grace.

Early on, Hawk Mountain utilized its data to capture the abrupt decline of the bald eagle, peregrine falcon, osprey, and other raptors and led the charge for full legal protection of migratory raptors in 1972 with the passage of the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act. In 1976 Hawk Mountain welcomed the first international Conservation Science Trainee to study raptors and has since graduated 508 individuals from 78 countries on six continents, bringing the Sanctuary’s raptor conservation message from local to global. Many graduates of the trainee program have gone on to found mega-raptor count sites, other organizations, and work on behalf of conservation around the globe.

“Today, the Kittatinny Ridge is recognized as an internationally important migration flyway, is designated as Sentinel and Conservation Landscape, and is recognized as an internationally Important Bird Area. Conservation begins with science and education,” says Hawk Mountain President Sean Grace.

Read the press release from the PA House of Representatives here. Want to plan a visit to the Sanctuary? Start here.