Conserving the Ridgway's Hawk in Punta Cana, DR

It´s June 5th of 2019 and Ridgway’s Hawk nesting season is almost over. After a few busy months monitoring these hawks, we´re beyond happy to see the progress they have made in the first half of 2019. In Punta Cana alone we have a total of 18 pairs of hawks - including a brand-new pair we found this year. We also have observed several juveniles (hawks that hatched during last year’s nesting season), which gives us great hope for the future of the species. Though some pairs are still incubating eggs and others are caring for nestlings, the pairs at Punta Cana have fledged 10 young so far this year.

The population in Los Haitises National Park is also doing very well. Our local teams continue to work hard to find nesting pairs, treat young for parasite infestations, and educate locals about the importance of the hawks. Because of their amazing efforts, we expect nest productivity rates to be the same or even better than last year. We will have a better idea of final numbers at the end of breeding season.

One of the main threats to Ridgway’s Hawk survival is the infestation of nestlings by botflies (Philornis sp). The botfly larvae burrow under the nestlings’ skin and feed on their tissue, muscle and blood. In order to better understand the prevalence of Philornis in Punta Cana, we conducted a planned experiment, wherein we left the first five hawk nests untreated for Philornis, to see if nestlings would remain unaffected. After closely monitoring those nests we noted that the majority of the nests were parasitized and just a few chicks survived. As expected in Ridgway’s Hawks, which often lay replacement clutches, most of the pairs that had failed in their first nesting attempt are now incubating for a second time. We have treated those nests and so far, they´re doing very well. Also we continued developing less invasive techniques to treat nests and continued working to identify natural repellents for this parasitic fly. So far, tobacco has shown promising results and we will be conducting further experiments under semi-controlled conditions in the next few months.

Another important threat to Ridgway’s Hawks is human persecution. So, a large part of our program involves environmental education efforts. This year, we visited several communities around Punta Cana and Los Haitises National Park - including a few new ones. It is always exciting to see how interested people are in learning more about Ridgway’s hawks and their importance. As usual, during the last week of May, we celebrated “Ridgway’s Hawk Day” with a number of activities and presentations in several different communities close to Punta Cana and Los Haitises National Park. Most notably, we worked with over 220 students at Escuela Basica de Juanillo. During the event, the kids had the chance to play some conservation-oriented games and paint nature-themed portraits of Ridgway’s Hawks and other amazing birds.  We were also joined by artist Nathalie Ramirez, who painted a beautiful mural at the entrance to the school, highlighting the beauty of Ridgway’s Hawks and the school’s pledge to protect them.

Since one of the main goals of our project is to create 3 additional populations of Ridgway’s Hawks outside of Los Haitises National Park, we are happy to announce that we have begun releasing hawks in a new area - Aniana Vargas National Park. To get ready for the releases, we first met with local community members to share information with them about the hawks, as well as to listen to any concerns or questions they might have had about the project. We couldn’t begin a reintroduction program without the full support of the nearby communities. Happily, we received overwhelming support and enthusiasm! So, our next step was to build two hack towers where we would house young hawks prior to their release. We began reintroducing young hawks to the area in late April and to date have released close to 25 hawks. So far, they are doing great. It is beyond exciting to be able to watch as these young birds quickly get used to their new home. Another remarkable aspect of this new site is that we have hired and are in the process of training five local young men and women who are working on the project. It is amazing to see how eager they are to learn, to protect this amazing bird, and to pass on what they have learned to other members of their communities.

It’s January 10^th 2019. I arrived in the Dominican Republic late the night before with a terrible headache from traveling. Fortunately, I was able to get a good night’s sleep and managed to wake up rather early this morning feeling refreshed and ready for the day. My plans didn’t really include making observations of hawks that morning due to an immediate trip pending to Santo Domingo, but as I sat in the project office at the Grupo Puntacana Foundation, I could hear hawks calling just right out front. Not really a big surprise as there has been a pair of hawks who claimed their territory in front of the foundation for over three years now. I continued to hear the birds call off and on then a very specific call rang in my ear. A call that you only hear when the birds are copulating or mating. The 2019 Ridgway’s Hawk nesting season has begun!

Times are changing fast on the Ridgway’s Hawk project. As many of you know, we did not release any hawks in Puntacana during 2018. After finding a total of 19 pairs of hawks during the 2018 nesting season, we have decided to stick to the same plan. Instead, we’ll focus our attention on monitoring these pairs so we can ensure that they are as successful at nesting as possible. With 19 pairs of hawks to monitor that will take a lot of time and dedication.

In other news, we have been looking at the future goals of the project and taking steps towards meeting those goals. One of The Ridgway’s Hawk Projects goals is to establish three self-sustaining and geographically distinct populations of hawks, apart from the original population in Los Haitises National Park. During the last two years we have been surveying sites in the Dominican Republic in search of the next release site. Surveyed sites have included national parks, scientific reserves and private property. Out of more than 15 sites surveyed, we chose Aniana Vargas National Park as the next Ridgway’s Hawk release site. Aniana Vargas is a relatively small national park encompassing about 130 km2. Like many parks in the Dominican Republic there are still people living within the park boundaries. This is really no surprise since the park was just created in 2009. The great thing is that the main cash crop is organic-bird friendly cacao or chocolate. Conacado, the cooperative that purchases cacao from local farmers, has a strict code of conduct which locals abide by in order to have the privilege of selling their products at higher prices. Some of these by laws include not littering, not killing wildlife, not polluting waterways, not cutting trees, and not using toxic chemicals or poisons. These helpful practices will go a long way towards protecting the newly released hawks.

As the Ridgway’s Hawk releases expand, so must our efforts in environmental education.  In Puntacana we learned that one of the best ways to multiply our efforts is by training people to educate others in their communities. In preparation for the upcoming releases in Aniana Vargas National Park, we hosted a 2-day workshop, in conjunction with Fundacion Cooperativa Vega Real, for 15 youth, teachers and park guards living and working in communities surrounding this protected area. Through dynamic activities including creating art using a raptor silhouette, constructing life-sized Ridgway’s Hawks out of recycled materials, putting on a play, and participating in “raptor Olympics”, participants learned how to identify some birds of prey found in Dominican Republic - including the Ridgway’s Hawk. They also learned about the key role these birds play in maintaining a balance in the ecosystems in which they live, and what we can all do to aid in their conservation.

Our hope is that everyone who came to this workshop will return to their respective communities and share their new-found knowledge with friends, family, and neighbors, to help us further spread the conservation message and help ensure the protection of Ridgway’s Hawks far into the future.