Overview | About HawkWatch International
Policy Statement | Bibliography
Lead & Wildlife Bibliography (PDF file ~41kb)

About HawkWatch International (HWI)

HawkWatch International (HWI) has been a 501(c)(3) organization since 1986 and an "unofficial"
conservation organization since 1977. HWI focuses on raptors because they are magnificent creatures, and because they are valuable environmental indicators. By monitoring their population trends, harmful environmental changes can be identified and addressed early.

Since 1977, HWI has been crucial in developing an extensive network of 16 raptor migration research sites in the U.S. and Mexico. This is the world's largest standardized, long-term raptor migration monitoring effort. Our research results are published in peer-reviewed literature and submitted to agencies and conservation organizations for management/conservation use. In addition to networking with dozens of conservation entities, HWI is currently involved in formal partnerships with 16 state/federal wildlife and land management agencies, non-profit groups and a utility company. Our history shows that we are able to coordinate several large-scale, long-term projects involving many diverse partners.

To increase public awareness of the importance of raptors, HWI presents classroom and field education programs to 40-50,000 children and adults annually. These programs emphasize the following: raptor physiology, food webs and other ecological principles, phenomena of long-distance migration, threats to raptors, the role of raptors as environmental barometers and people's responsibility to the environment. The highlight of any HWI program is the presence of a live raptor (under a federal permit, HWI cares for eight hawks that have been injured and cannot be released into the wild).

In 2000, HWI developed its Raptor Conservation Strategy that delineates how HWI can best contribute to the protection of raptor populations. The Strategy emphasizes two broad approaches. The first supports on-going biodiversity and habitat conservation efforts to benefit raptors and other wildlife. The second focuses on reducing anthropogenic threats to raptors, specifically power line electrocution, persecution/disturbance and toxic contamination from pesticides and lead. The Wildlife Without Lead website is a crucial component of the second approach.