The award-winning, ADA-accessible Silhouette Trail, which meanders through Hawk Mountain’s ridgetop forest between the trailhead and South Lookout, has undergone another display transformation. The trailside gallery now features seven new raptor silhouettes, this time of a specific bird of prey.
The specially commissioned gallery features life-size, in-flight silhouettes of seven species of endangered and near-threatened eagles from around the world, including: Beaudouin’s snake eagle, black-and-chestnut eagle, crowned eagle, eastern imperial eagle, 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 listed above, are identified by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature as critically endangered, endangered, vulnerable, or near-threatened globally.
Hawk Mountain displays 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 to 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.