Soaring skyward: Fall is a great time to see, and count, raptors

Twice a year, hawks, falcons and other members of the raptor family take to the air. In the spring, they fly north and in the fall south. Sometimes they soar great distances, anywhere from a few hundred miles to several thousand.

Some fly because it's required within their species. "But some migrate because if they all stayed in one spot, they would run out of resources," explained Markus Mika, HawkWatch International science director.

Not all raptors migrate. Some will winter here in Utah. Bald eagles migrate from the north, but choose to spend the winter in Utah.

The raptor family includes a number of birds, including hawks, falcons, eagles, vultures, osprey and owls. They are characterized by such features as a hooked beak, sharp talons and extremely keen eyesight.

They also fall in with the raptor family because they are carnivorous. They eat other animals. Which, in the world of birds, puts raptors at the very top.

This makes them very valuable because they inhabit most ecosystems, are sensitive to the environment around them and therefore serve as a biological indicator.

Raptors are also among the most interesting birds to watch and among the most often studied.

One of their more attractive qualities is they are among the most graceful of birds in flight. They limit the use of their wings and use rising thermals off mountain ranges in order to fly great distances. Instead of a rapid wing movement, like ducks, they soar like gliders.

And because they need the thermal uplifts from mountains, the three flyways in the West follow mountain ranges. They are the Pacific, which goes along the western coast through Oregon, Washington and California; the Intermountain or Great Basin, which flows through Idaho, Utah and Arizona; and the Rocky Mountain, which goes through Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico and a tip of Texas.

Jack Rensel, with the Wasatch Audubon Society, pointed out that the Wasatch Front range is particularly good for raptors.

"With north-westerly winds being the main airflow, they bump up against the Wasatch Front and create an uplift. Raptors like the uplift because they don't have to expend so much energy in flight," he added.

Since it's fall and a time when raptors take flight, now is one of the best times to see the birds. And, it's the very best time for HWI to count raptors.