Join us in celebrating the past 50 years, the people, the places, and the raptors while we also look to the future of the next 50 years, what it might bring and what we hope for.  We are calling on all hawk watchers, raptor enthusiasts, raptor biologists, and HMANA friends across the Americas to join us in person or 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 watchsites across the continent are connecting people to raptors and their conservation. A new education initiative with schools is being piloted in Michigan and will be shared by teachers attending the HMANA 50^th conference as an exciting new step to engage young people. If you have ever witnessed  the enthusiasm of newcomers seeing an eagle sailing overhead for the first time, you know the special connections to birds that hawkwatches help provide.

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 will have the opportunity to visit the Hawk Ridge daily and take local birding trips to unique sites, such as Sax-Zim Bog. We expect birdwatchers and hawk enthusiasts from across the continent will flock to the conference to celebrate HMANA and to view the remarkable spectacle of raptor migration at the renowned Hawk Ridge.