Friends Of Acadia

Hawk Watch is in full swing! Each year, thousands of raptors and other types of birds migrate south for the winter, some even as far as South America! In this part of the world, migratory birds (and butterflies!) tend to follow the Atlantic Flyway, which acts as a highway following the east coast of North and South America. This path allows for easy travel, good food sources, and places to rest on their long journey south.

There are over 70 stations on the Atlantic Flyway that monitor and document the yearly migration numbers, including Cadillac Mountain! Every weekday starting at 9am, Schoodic Institute volunteers, Acadia's Raptor Intern (funded by Friends of Acadia), and National Park Service rangers scan the horizon for hawks, falcons, ospreys, eagles and more, documenting their daily numbers and uploading them to an international database. As only the second monitoring station along the Atlantic Flyway, all the stations south of Acadia watch the Cadillac Mountain data closely to anticipate and compare their own observations.

Hawk Watch is open to everyone! Any visitor interested in helping track this year's migration numbers is welcome to join, no sign-up required. Follow the Cadillac North Ridge trail down from the summit about 200 yards to find the monitoring station. Remember to get your vehicle reservation in advance!