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Sandy Hook Bird Observatory
Sandy Hook Migration Watch Raptor Totals

Total raptor counts from the Sandy Hook Migration Watch for 1979-1994 and 1999-2004 are shown below along with counts for individual raptor species.  General information about the count and directions are provided in the site guide.

The following abbreviations are used: Bl Vu = Black Vulture; Tu Vu = Turkey Vulture; Ospr = Osprey; Sw Ki = Swallow-tailed Kite, Mi Ki = Mississippi Kite, Ba Ea = Bald Eagle; No Ha = Northern Harrier; Sh Sh = Sharp Shinned Hawk; Co Ha = Cooper's Hawk; No Go = Northern Goshawk; Re Sh = Red Shouldered Hawk; Br Wi = Broad-winged Hawk; Swai = Swainson's Hawk; Re Ta = Red-tailed Hawk; Ro Le = Rough-legged Hawk; Go Ea = Golden Eagle; Am Ke = American Kestrel; Merl = Merlin; Pere = Peregrine.  Other includes other species plus unidentified raptors.

  1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988
Bl Vu 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 2 0
Tu Vu 51 75 101 89 78 95 140 148 135 180
Ospr 39 72 40 61 232 165 238 95 116 135
Sw Ki 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1
Mi Ki 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Ba Ea 1 1 0 3 2 5 6 0 4 0
No Ha 183 186 185 337 486 397 525 301 249 318
Sh Sh 2616 3654 2634 2102 3023 5042 4953 6934 3783 2496
Co Ha 151 182 226 245 239 257 350 234 185 174
No Go 3 3 0 5 4 1 3 0 1 4
Re Sh 66 52 154 98 122 55 158 72 93 28
Br Wi 44 116 158 85 164 179 130 184 382 289
Swai 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Re Ta 63 50 76 87 110 60 107 79 142 162
Ro Le 1 1 2 1 0 0 3 1 0 0
Go Ea 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Am Ke 1949 2256 1615 1815 1862 3138 3059 1454 1124 897
Merl 145 143 79 207 215 249 461 221 388 211
Pere 3 4 2 4 3 7 9 10 6 8
Other 0 0 0 0 0 25 0 12 45 7
Total 5311 6795 5272 5139 6542 9676 10,144 9745 6655 4910
  1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1999 2000 2001 2002
Bl Vu 0 0 0 1 0 2 8 3 7 10
Tu Vu 221 211 191 150 233 250 156 134 207 147
Ospr 78 97 70 77 149 81 31 92 50 32
Sw Ki 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1
Mi Ki 0 2 1 1 2 0 0 1 2 0
Ba Ea 3 2 2 0 3 3 13 7 14 4
No Ha 215 120 118 110 214 158 134 87 122 71
Sh Sh 2489 1381 1911 964 1573 1489 2298 1245 981 1604
Co Ha 214 119 113 103 262 354 228 226 127 403
No Go 1 1 2 4 4 7 0 0 0 6
Re Sh 60 36 80 65 86 88 195 72 74 41
Br Wi 125 103 162 68 105 100 170 75 57 73
Swai 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Re Ta 112 58 93 72 126 78 34 58 36 83
Ro Le 1 0 1 1 0 2 0 1 0 0
Go Ea 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Am Ke 1236 959 1713 998 1526 993 825 993 655 600
Merl 185 181 223 139 268 178 172 247 269 205
Pere 2 6 12 8 9 12 11 10 18 21
Other 31 13 10 5 6 0 0 8 0 0
Total 4974 3289 4703 2766 4566 3795 4275 3260 2620 3301
  2003 2004
Bl Vu 9 3
Tu Vu 195 307
0spr 52 39
Sw Ki 0 0
Mi Ki 1 8
Ba Ea 7 18
No Ha 84 126
Sh Sh 1457 687
Co Ha 208 330
No Go 2 2
Re Sh 66 91
Br Wi 105 97
Swai 1 0
Re Ta 75 100
Ro Le 0 0
Go Ea 0 1
Am Ke 422 338
Merl 251 271
Pere 14 11
Other 12 5
Total 2961 2434

Related information:

The Sandy Hook Migration Watch is funded and run by the Sandy Hook Bird Observatory of the New Jersey Audubon Society.