Hawks – Migration

Music; Ambience: Red-tailed hawk

JM: This week, thousands of hawks are migrating from southern United States to their northern breeding grounds. What’s that mean? Well, if you’re a rodent in New Jersey, it’s a good time to stay indoors. I’m Jim Metzner, and this is the Pulse of the Planet.

JM: Leonard Soucy is the founder of the Raptor Trust in New Jersey. A raptor is a bird of prey, like a hawk, and Mr. Soucy tells us that New Jersey is a favorite stop for thousands of migrating raptors, who love to prey on rodents.

LS: “This bird is a red-tailed hawk. The red-tailed hawk is a resident New Jersey hawk, we also have a number of them that migrate through. It is not uncommon to see two or three of these hawks sitting alongside the road as you traverse the interstate system in New Jersey, in New York or almost throughout the country.”

JM: Many of the migrating hawks are taking advantage of the updrafts from the mountains, or gathering along the coast as they build up the courage to cross over the fingers of ocean surrounding the capes.

JM: But you don’t have to wait until migration season to catch sight of a hawk. According to Mr. Soucy, they can be spotted throughout the country at almost any time of year. To see them, and virtually anything else in the natural world, you just need to know what to look for.

LS: “Once you get turned on to wildflowers, all of the sudden you see wildflowers everywhere. You get turned on to mushrooms, you can find mushrooms everywhere. You can certainly get turned on to birds of prey and start seeing them. You can go out on any interstate highway and in fifteen minutes find either a flying or a sitting hawk. It’s just an awareness and a consciousness that you need. There are numbers of species that occur in our everyday life.”

JM: I’m Jim Metzner, and this is the Pulse of the Planet.

Hawks - Migration

If you happen to be in New Jersey this week, look to the skies and you might see a migrating hawk.

Air Date:05/05/2014

Scientist:

Transcript:

Hawks - Migration

Music; Ambience: Red-tailed hawk

JM: This week, thousands of hawks are migrating from southern United States to their northern breeding grounds. What's that mean? Well, if you're a rodent in New Jersey, it's a good time to stay indoors. I'm Jim Metzner, and this is the Pulse of the Planet.

JM: Leonard Soucy is the founder of the Raptor Trust in New Jersey. A raptor is a bird of prey, like a hawk, and Mr. Soucy tells us that New Jersey is a favorite stop for thousands of migrating raptors, who love to prey on rodents.

LS: "This bird is a red-tailed hawk. The red-tailed hawk is a resident New Jersey hawk, we also have a number of them that migrate through. It is not uncommon to see two or three of these hawks sitting alongside the road as you traverse the interstate system in New Jersey, in New York or almost throughout the country."

JM: Many of the migrating hawks are taking advantage of the updrafts from the mountains, or gathering along the coast as they build up the courage to cross over the fingers of ocean surrounding the capes.

JM: But you don't have to wait until migration season to catch sight of a hawk. According to Mr. Soucy, they can be spotted throughout the country at almost any time of year. To see them, and virtually anything else in the natural world, you just need to know what to look for.

LS: "Once you get turned on to wildflowers, all of the sudden you see wildflowers everywhere. You get turned on to mushrooms, you can find mushrooms everywhere. You can certainly get turned on to birds of prey and start seeing them. You can go out on any interstate highway and in fifteen minutes find either a flying or a sitting hawk. It's just an awareness and a consciousness that you need. There are numbers of species that occur in our everyday life."

JM: I'm Jim Metzner, and this is the Pulse of the Planet.