Volunteer Counters Aid in Study of Birds of Prey : Eyes to Sky, They Tally High-Flying Denizens

As the early morning mist lifts off the dunes that separate the pounding ocean waves from a tranquil marsh pond, a tiny speck begins to move across the distant sky.

Moments later, another dot appears, then another and another.

From the corner of a long wooden platform overlooking the pond, a man’s eyes track the dots with radar-like precision. He quickly identifies them and makes a mental tally, well before the outlines of wings emerge and they become clearly visible as large birds.

Counts Migrating Birds

Meet Top Hawk. From daybreak to sunset, from mid-August through early December, Frank Nicoletti counts birds of prey, called raptors, as they make their annual seasonal migration from north to south.

“I’m just a kid who likes to watch hawks,” says the 22-year-old from Westchester, N.Y., whose well-worn binoculars seem permanently affixed to his face.

But Nicoletti is much more than that. Among the legions of American bird watchers, he is recognized as one of the pre-eminent and most devoted observers of the life cycles and migratory patterns of eight species of hawks.

“Frank Nicoletti is the standard for hawk counters,” said Allen M. Fish, who heads the Golden Gate Raptor Migration Observatory in San Francisco.

With other volunteers and temporary workers, he is helping federal wildlife officials gauge the raptors’ populations from year to year and pick up clues to how man-made developments and problems may be affecting them.

Greatest Test for Talents

At this time of the year, with the fall bird migration at its peak, Nicoletti’s talents are put to their greatest test.

Here at Cape May Point, a sandy peninsula on the southernmost tip of New Jersey, the geography creates a natural funnel for southbound birds and provides a final respite before they reach the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean. More than 1,000 acres are designated as wildlife sanctuaries in the area, providing the migrating birds--many of them young and immature--an undisturbed habitat and plenty of food.

Sometimes, depending on wind patterns, the skies are darkened by thousands of migrating hawks. Each year, approximately 70,000 fly by the point, making it one of the finest vantage points in North America for observing the birds.

The flights are an irresistible phenomenon to Nicoletti, scientists and hobbyist bird watchers alike.

During prime overflights of different species, the hawk-watch platform here is elbow-to-elbow bird watchers. Some days there are more birders than birds. One recent quiet morning there found a retired Pennsylvania education professor, a New York investment adviser, a New York City fireman and a hearing assessment officer for Los Angeles County who lives in San Pedro.

‘Certain Thrill’

The scene is repeated at several other hawk-watching spots around the country.

“There is a certain thrill to seeing these large and powerful birds migrating in front of your eyes,” said Paul M. Roberts, chairman of the Hawk Migration Assn. of North America in Medford, Mass., a 750-member group of enthusiasts that helps coordinate data from nationwide hawk counts.

Hawk watchers are a distinct, proud subgroup of the nation’s bird-watching community.

“It takes a certain commitment to watch hawks regularly. You can’t spend as much time looking for other birds,” Roberts said.

“It’s a question of whether you want to look up or down,” Roberts says. “A fair number of people like me are committed to looking up.”

And among hawk watchers, none is more dedicated or skilled than Nicoletti.

Works for Free

A short-order cook during the off-season, he is spending his third fall on the official hawk-watch platform at the state park. He works for free, subsisting on $1,000 in donations collected by supportive bird watchers in the area.

While other watchers gape in awe at the waves of raptors winging across the horizon, Nicoletti can focus on the individual specks, recognizing their species and tallying them rapidly with the ticks of a hand counter.

For Nicoletti, hawk counting is as much a scientific mission as it is a pursuit of natural beauty.

Ornithologists and wildlife biologists say bird migrations remain a mystery that has yet to be fully unraveled.

Some authorities compare a bird’s genetic instinct to migrate to man’s ability to feel hunger, but they add that there still is much to be learned about the variables that prompt birds to undertake the monumental round-trip flights.

Some Go to South America

In the case of the hawks and other birds of prey, their north-south migration paths take them through New England, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, the Midwest and California. Some birds migrate deep into South America, others stay in the Southern United States or Central America.

Weather conditions, predators, and changing food supplies make the migrations vigorous and stressful journeys, especially for the young, immature birds that are less experienced at finding food and are more apt to become confused by the winds and to starve or die exhausted far out at sea. As many as 50% to 80% of the migrating hawks and other birds die during migration, experts estimate.

Hawk counters like Fish and Nicoletti say they hope their calculations will help scientists learn more about the migrations and develop ways to help protect the hawk populations.

So far, their data suggest that several species are holding up well.

The numbers of osprey and peregrine falcons are increasing, indicating that they are rebounding from previous dramatic decreases caused by pesticides like the now-banned DDT. Like human beings, hawks are at the top of their food chain. Eating contaminated fish or other prey impairs their ability to breed and produce healthy offspring.

In addition to counting, “banding” is also a crucial part of the hawk watch effort.

From his platform on the pond, Nicoletti picks the birds that will soon make their contribution to this research.

“There’s a sharpy coming in to your right, “ Nicoletti calls into a walkie-talkie to wildlife biologists who are scattered behind five blinds around the salt marsh pond. They quickly lure the bird into a mist net--a fine mesh strung like a flimsy badminton net--that traps it so that a thin metal band with a permanent identification band can be attached to the bird’s leg. They call it the bird’s Social Security number.

“The whole purpose of banding is to monitor the population,” said Chris Schultz, as he bands two small hawks and places them in empty tubes that were potato chip containers. The birds are never held for more than an hour.

Observe Their Development

When the banded birds are caught in the future, scientists can observe their development and note where they had been at some time in the past.

“One of the things we’re learning about is long-term survival rates,” said Schultz, a 28-year-old wildlife biologist from Burlington, Vt., who is spending his seventh year with the Cape May raptor-banding project.

Along with Nicoletti, the banders camp free in the area during the summer months and then share a house when the summer vacationers leave and rates drop. Friends and fellow raptor watchers sometimes bring food.

Nicoletti acknowledges that in addition to the sparse life style, there are some occupational hazards to his part-time occupation, particularly sun and windburn and bloodshot eyes. Does he ever tire of the same scenery and the counting grind?

“Never,” he said.