30 September 2026, WINGS at Veracruz: Day 2, Veracruz River of Raptors hawk watch plus shore and marsh hotspots
On migration from North to South America raptors choose routes that require the least exertion. Avoiding open water they use thermals and tail winds for lift and push as they follow the edges of mountain ranges and coastlines. Inevitably there are geographic pinch points where they’re funneled into a narrow corridor. That’s where the best fall hawk watches are.
Southbound raptors leaving Texas for eastern Mexico fly over a wide coastal plain that increasingly narrows to a bottleneck between the mountains and the sea north of Heroica Veracruz. To their west is a wall of mountains where Mexico’s Sierra Madre Oriental meets the Central Volcanic Belt. To their east is the Gulf of Mexico. They stream through the gap by forming a river of raptors.
This migratory phenomenon was well known and potentially endangered when ProNatura Veracruz, Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, and HawkWatch International launched the Veracruz River of Raptors Project in 1991. In fall 1992 they established two permanent hawk watch sites just south of the pinch point. Cardel is 7 km (4.34 mi) from the coast on the roof of Hotel Bienvenidos in downtown Cardel. Chichicaxtle is 17-18km (10-11 mi) inland on a tower by the town’s soccer field.
Daily counts can tally over 100,000 birds of a single species. Total migration counts are spectacular, listed below in order of peak date.
| Species | Date-Range through Veracruz | Count |
|---|---|---|
| Mississippi kite (Ictinia mississippiensis) | Last week of August through first 2 weeks of Sept | 250,000 to 680,000 |
| Broad-winged hawk (Buteo platypterus) | Mid Sept through 1st week of Oct | 1.5 to 2 million |
| Turkey vulture (Cathartes aura) | Last week of Sept to 3rd or 4th week of Oct | 1.5 million |
| Swainson's hawk (Buteo swainsoni) | First 2 weeks of Oct | 300,000 |
Since I come from a place where a single Mississippi kite is an exceedingly rare bird these numbers are astonishing.
Watch the river of raptors, including American white pelicans passing the pinch point, in this film festival trailer.
In 2024 Jess Cosentino made four videos for weeks 1 through 4 of fall migration at Veracruz River of Raptors. This video is Weeks 3 and 4 at the peak of Mississippi Kite migration.
We will miss the kites’ peak since we are here for Week 7 and part of 8. But we will see the broad-winged hawks’ peak, weather permitting.
Broad-wings peak at Hawk Mountain, Pennsylvania for a 2-week period in mid-September. From there it takes them 12-20 days to get to Veracruz. It’s likely that some of those who flew past Hawk Mountain will fly by while we’re watching the Veracruz River of Raptors. “Migration is a Moving Experience.”