Want to See A Million Raptors?

Join HMANA and Pronatura-Veracruz

for the Hawk-Watching Trip of a Lifetime to Veracruz,

Mexico’s River of Raptors.

September 30th to October 8th, 2016

Broad-winged, Swainsons hawks and turkey vultures swirl over Veracruz.

There aren’t too many places on earth where you can see hundreds of thousands of raptors in a day. Veracruz, Mexico is one of them.  With the right amount of luck, you could see one million raptors on this nine day tour! Each fall season an average of four and a half million hawks of nearly 30 species, including greater than two million Broad-winged Hawks, are recorded from two count sites in central Veracruz, Mexico. Along with mind-boggling numbers of other migrant bird species – Wood Storks, Anhingas, White Pelicans, and Scissor-tailed Flycatchers among them – these raptors are funneled into a 15-mile-wide bottleneck between the mountains and the Gulf of Mexico. Counts in recent years have confirmed that Veracruz is host to the most concentrated raptor migration in the world and receives over 90% of the world population of Swainson’s and Broad-winged Hawks, and Mississippi Kites.

The HMANA-Pronatura tour will highlight the high diversity and number of raptor and non-raptor migrants (including dragonflies and butterflies – which number over one million per day!), as well as the conservation of these species that is being led by Pronatura-Veracruz. We will also focus on some of the region’s specialty bird species including some of the region's 25 endemics. There will be time for stops at archaeological sites such as Cortez’ first Spanish colony, and cultural immersion, including excellent local food, throughout the tour.

Our guides will be Pronatura biologist, Eduardo Martinez, and Phil Brown, who has led HMANA tours to Costa Rica and South Florida.

Everyone should experience migration on this scale at least once in their lives! We hope you will join us. Space is limited so reserve your spot today! See tour itinerary and learn more at www.hmana.org or contact Julie Brown at brown@hmana.org.

To see a video of broad-winged hawk migration over Veracruz, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-CXQXXehyw