HMANA celebrated the past 50 years, the people, the places, and the raptors and also looked to the future of the next 50 years, what it might bring and what we hope for.  Hawk watchers, raptor enthusiasts, raptor biologists, and HMANA friends across the Americas joined us in person and virtually for this momentous conference and anniversary celebration!

Fifty years ago, HMANA was the first organization established to create standardized protocols for conducting long-term hawk migration counts. As a result, these data collection methods have been effectively used at over 200 spring and fall count sites across the Americas. Site data is centralized in HMANA’s database, HawkCount.org which has now grown to be the largest raptor migration monitoring database in the world.

Today we are tracking trends in North American raptors better than ever before, thanks to thousands of hawkwatchers and HMANA’s steadfast, inspiring leadership. But perhaps just as important is how watch-sites across the continent are connecting people to raptors and their conservation. A new education initiative with schools, the Michigan Raptor Migration Teaching Network (MRMTN) is being piloted in Michigan and educators attend and shared at the HMANA 50^th conference as an exciting new step to engage young people.

Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory, in Duluth, Minnesota, has monitored hawks for more than 50 years. Its location is central to HMANA sites across the Americas and is well-known for its late fall hawk flights. Conference attendees had the opportunity to visit the Hawk Ridge daily and took local birding trips to unique sites, such as Sax-Zim Bog.