What can we help find?

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Raptors

Learn more about raptors at the Golden Gate Raptors Observatory.

 

A brownish Red-tailed hawk perches on green evergreen branches with a blue sky background.
Conservation

How are rodenticides affecting raptors?

Anticoagulant rodenticides (AR) are used to control pests, but secondary exposure can affect non-target species like raptors. Researchers tested juvenile Red-tailed Hawks to learn more.
A small bird sits in the center on a branch with a white sky background and many green oak leaves and brownish twigs below.
Conservation

What's causing changes in Kestrels?

Data from seven fall raptor migration sites show that not only have kestrel numbers have been declining across North America, they've also been getting smaller.
A woman in a purple coat stands at the right of the photo with arm extended. A brown & cream hawk flies with wings extended on left. Background is a partly cloudy sky with the Golden Gate bridge and San Francisco Bay, and in the foreground green shrubs
Conservation

Which Red-tailed Hawks migrate when?

Red-tailed Hawks are common raptors in the Bay Area, yet males and females can be difficult to tell apart. Researchers used DNA and small differences in size to better understand their migration.
Close-up of a kestrel's face.
Conservation

How does raptor migration timing vary?

At GGRO, we observe that female raptors typically migrate before males and juveniles typically migrate before adults. How does this compare to findings at other observation stations?
A white and brown Broad-winged Hawk soars against a blue sky.
Conservation

Where do Broad-winged Hawks go in California?

We don't know much about Broad-winged Hawks' migration along the Pacific Flyway, so GGRO volunteers tracked the journeys of five. Where did they go?
A brown-colored Merlin flying wings spread against a pale blue sky
Conservation

Messy eaters: what's on Merlins' migration menu?

A novel technique collecting songbird DNA from migratory raptors, and using DNA barcoding to identify prey species, helps quantify raptor diet during migration and track trends through time.
Bald Eagle
Article

Bald Eagle sightings in the Bay Area on the rise: Here's why

“This is a super exciting time for Bald Eagles in the Bay Area. We must be doing something right for Bald Eagle ecology."
Lidia D'Amico opens a window to the ocean on Alcatraz.
Gateways Article

Ask a park scientist: Lidia D'Amico, the bird biologist of Alcatraz

National Park Service biologist Lidia D’Amico works, in short, for the birds.
Kettle of Raptors Over San Francisco Skyline
Our Work

GGRO Hawkwatch Records

After three decades of consistently and meticulously tallying the daily fall raptor migration at the Golden Gate, we have a lot of great data, and we have an amazing ability to see a kind of baseline raptor migration story for the 19 species that are seen here annually. For example,...
Black and yellow peregrine falcon with white fluffy chicks in rocky nest
Conservation

Photos: Peregrine falcons on Alcatraz

All the fluffiness of the peregrine falcon chicks and their parents on Alcatraz...

In 2020, for the first time in recorded history, peregrine falcon chicks were born on Alcatraz Island. The peregrines returned in subsequent years and, in 2023, four chicks were born on the island!