Where Did the Broad-winged Hawks Go During Hurricane Helene?

By Traci BeGole, FOJ Board member

It is with a heavy heart that we observe all of the destruction that Hurricane Helene brought to the Jocassee Gorges and surrounding areas of North and South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee and of course, Florida.  Our first instinct is to help the people of these regions, and it has been inspiring to see the human spirit being so resilient.  But what happens to our wildlife during such a storm?   Do they get advanced warning and avoid the storm?  Where do they go?  

At Friends of Jocassee (FOJ), our mission is “Conservation of the Jocassee Gorges for All.”  That includes having an awareness of our flora and fauna.  At Devils Fork State Park, Rowdy Harris, park manager, estimates that there were probably over 1,000 trees that came down along with mountains of tree debris.  The park was closed for 3 weeks and they had many out-of-state organizations helping them with tree removal.  The Oconee Bell Trail will need trail restoration work and portions may need to be re-routed.  Regardless, they are committed to complete this by March 1st before the Oconee Bell blooming season.   Unfortunately, wildlife sightings at the park have been very limited since the storm, and the park staff is hoping they are avoiding the area because of the chainsaw noise.    

As an avid birder, I naturally think about all the birds that call Jocassee home or are just migrating through the Jocassee Gorges in the fall.  The Broad-winged Hawk is one of the region’s fascinating migration stories that Jocassee Gorges has the luck to witness each year.  The Broad-winged Hawks are one of the largest migrating buteo hawk species and their path has been plotted to descend down the Atlantic Flyway and then toward Texas.  The Broad-winged hawks do not like to cross big bodies of water like the Gulf of Mexico.  

Many scientists and volunteers count the fall migration at multiple points on their way to their winter destination in South America and record these sightings at hawkcount.org.  This is a raptor database offered by the Hawk Migration Association of North America.  Based on this source of data, we can speculate on what happened to the Broad-winged Hawks during Hurricane Helene.  

We can’t know for sure, but it is commonly thought that the birds that pass through Hawk Mountain Sanctuary in Pennsylvania continue their path to SC by way of the Jocassee Gorges.  From there, again, we don’t know for sure, but we assume that they fly on to their Texas/Mexico routes.  

Looking at data from the last 4 years, Sassafras Mountain sees the highest number of hawks during the last week of September which was exactly when Hurricane Helene hit (Sept 27th).  Hawk Mountain in PA saw smaller but significant numbers (5,102) in mid-September, leading us to believe the hawks were here.  

Our local experts have a couple of theories.  Ed Moorer, the Sassafras Site Coordinator on raptor migration, remarks that “We were anticipating a good amount of Broad-winged Hawks to fly to us when the hurricane arrived.  They must have roosted somewhere for the event and then continued their journey.”  He has seen Broad-winged Hawks sit down in a forest and not move until the sun provides thermals to migrate.   Southern sites in Texas had observations at a consistent level within a 4 year average so this is plausible.  Betsy Lewis, Jocassee Lake Tours Guide and Hawk Watch volunteer, offered another hypothesis.  She noted that the hawks had entered our area but many diverted north of Mount Pisgah, NC.  This is also reflected in observation sightings from Hawkwatch.  See the tables below.  

Sassafras Mountain, SC data shows that in 2024 only 1,371 observations were counted compared to 8,276 in 2023.  Conversely, the data shows that Mount Pisgah, NC saw 11,641 hawks in 2024, significantly more than in previous years.    In fact, you could possibly deduce that birds pass by Sassafras or Pisgah depending on local wind conditions as the totals in 2023 seem to indicate that taken together, they account for a similar number of Broad-winged observations.  

During and after the storm, Sassafras and Caesars Head were not accessible for observations so we will never know how many passed through our region.  Further south, Corpus Christi, TX, which gets hundreds of thousands of Broad-winged in the second two weeks of October, had significant numbers of hawks within their 4 year average.  Could our Jocassee Gorges hawks have flown there?  Possibly.  

We will never know for sure.  However, without this hawkcount.org database, we would not be able to make assumptions on what happened to the Broad-winged Hawks this year.  These citizen science efforts are critical to help us become aware, understand and interpret what is happening to our wildlife.  

If you are interested in counting raptors at Sassafras Mountain, there will be plenty of opportunities next year.  And, come join us at FOJ to conserve our beautiful area for all…people, flora and wildlife.