The international award-winning, ADA accessible Silhouette Trail, which meanders through Hawk Mountain’s ridge-top forest between the Trail Head and South Lookout, has undergone another display transformation. The trail-side gallery now features 7 new raptor silhouettes, this time of a specific bird of prey.
The specially commissioned gallery features life-size, in-flight silhouettes of 7 species of endangered and Near Threatened eagles from around the world, including the Beaudouin’s Snake-eagle, the Black-and-Chestnut Eagle, The Crowned Eagle, The Eastern Imperial Eagle, The Greater Spotted Eagle, the Madagascar Fish-eagle, and the Philippine Eagle.
Sixty of the world’s 330 species of raptors belong to four decidedly different groups of birds of prey known as eagles. Although many eagles are doing fine, twelve of them, including the seven species described here, are listed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature as Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable, or Near-threatened globally.
We display silhouettes of these endangered birds of prey on the Silhouette Trail to highlight their size and conservation status and to describe the factors that threaten them. Hawk Mountain works with conservationists globally, in an attempt to learn more about endangered raptors and how we can better protect them.
The one-of-a-kind silhouettes will remain on display through the summer, and a brochure describing the raptors and their current conservation status are available in the Visitor Center or by download at hawkmountain.org/silhouettetrail.
The 2,500-acre Hawk Mountain Sanctuary is the world’s first refuge for birds of prey and is open to the public year-round by trail-fee or membership, which in turn supports the non-profit organization’s raptor conservation mission and local-to-global research, training, and education programs. To learn more about Hawk Mountain or other programs, please call 610-756-6961 or visit www.hawkmountain.org.
