This is bird note.

In autumn, hundreds of thousands of Swainsons hawks migrate to South America.

They're leaving prairies in Saskatchewan and the Dakotas.

Rangelands in the Great Basin, deserts in Arizona and New Mexico.

Raptor counters for Hawkwatch International have counted more than 3,500

Swainsons over Corpus Christi, Texas. 900 at Nevada's Go Shoot Mountains, 2,900 at New Mexico's Manzano Mountain.

Up to 845,000 were counted one autumn in Veracruz, Mexico.

With the help of a satellite tracking device, let's follow an individual

male.

On September 14th, he leaves his breeding territory near Hanna,

Alberta, reaches southwest Saskatchewan by September 23rd.

Passes through Nebraska October 1st,

Tom Oleepus Mexico on October 7th.

Honduras, October 14th, and arrives at Marcos-Wares, Argentina on the 7th of November,

a migration of more than 6,000 miles.

And there's yet another remarkable feature of these honks.

In North America, Swainson's feed on rodents, rabbits, reptiles, and insects. But in Argentina...ids and

insects,

in Argentina, they feed almost exclusively on insects,

mainly grasshoppers.

Birds, adapting to differences and bridging cultures gracefully.

For Bird Note, I'm Michael Stein. You're going to.

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