Accipitridae - hawk, eagle, and kite family
Each year from mid- to late August through mid-October, Acadia National Park personnel and volunteers monitor hawk migration. During the 2009 season, more than 2600 members of this family were observed.

Mount Desert Island is home to 11 species in 6 genera that live on Mount Desert Island. Click on a link below or scroll down for more information.
   Pandion (1 species)
      Pandion haliaetus - osprey
   Haliaeetus (1 species)
      Haliaeetus leucocephalus - bald eagle
   Circus (1 species)
      Circus cyaneus - northern harrier
   Accipiter (3 species)
      Accipiter striatus - sharp-shinned hawk
      Accipiter cooperi - Cooper's hawk
      Accipiter gentilis - northern goshawk
   Buteo (4 species)
      Buteo lineatus - red-shouldered hawk
      Buteo platypterus - broad-winged hawk
      Buteo jamaicensis - red-tailed hawk
      Buteo lagopus - rough-legged hawk
   Aquila (1 species)
      Aquila chrysaetos - golden eagle

Pandion (osprey)
The genus Pandion has been included in its own family (Pandionidae) or as the sole genus of the subfamily Pandioninae of family Accipitridae. The American Ornithological Union includes Pandion in the Accipitridae, and that classification is followed here. The name Pandion comes from Pandion I, a mythological king of Athens.

Pandion haliaetus (osprey) is the only species of Pandion worldwide with four subspecies recognized. Our North American (Canada and United States) subspecies is P. h. carolinensis, which winters in South America. It can be recognized by its habit of hovering high above a body of water before plunging into the water to catch a fish. MDI is home to the osprey from April through mid-October [source: Acadia National Park checklist].

Haliaeetus
This is a genus of 8 species worldwide.

Halaieetus leucocephalus (bald eagle) - The specific epithet leucocephalus comes from two words (Greek and then Latin) meaning "white head". The bald eagle is on the rebound from a low of 29 breeding pairs in Maine in 1972 [source: Maine Natural Areas Program], thanks to the ban of DDT in that year, and is a year-round resident of MDI. One or two individuals are often seen on John's Island in Bass Harbor on the side of the island away from Bernard [TFV]. Two other well-known spots on Mount Desert Island for bald eagles are on the peninsula northeast of the mill pond in Somesville [TFV] and overlooking the smaller pond at Hamilton Pond at the north end of Norway Drive [JF]. The photo below was taken by Lynn Lepley-Boschert.

Circus (harrier)
This is a genus of approximately 13 species worldwide.

Circus cyaneus (northern harrier, marsh hawk in older books) is the only North American speies in the genus. The northern harrier is in our area from April through December, but the best chance of seeing one is in April and May and then again in mid-August through November [source: ANP checklist].

Accipiter (hawk, goshawk, sparrowhawk)
This is a genus of nearly 50 species. Its name is the Latin (third declension) noun for "any of several species of hawk" [Oxford Latin dictionary]. The Latin infinitive accipere (third conjugation) means "to grasp".

Accipiter striatus (sharp-shinned hawk) [information to be posted]

Accipiter cooperi (Cooper's hawk) [information to be posted]

Accipiter gentilis (northern goshawk) Jennifer Fisk's photograph and account of an event on 3 February 2010: "When I got home from work, the rooster and three hens were outside carrying on like there was a crisis. There was. One of the hens was pretty well eaten on the chicken house floor, and the perpetrator was still in the house. I figured the most logical course of action was to get the camera which captured this Goshawk quite nicely. Then I tried turning off the light but he didn't leave. I tried cleaning up the remains but he didn't leave. Finally, I gave him a little boost under the tail with my show shovel. He took off past my head, flew across the yard, 100+ feet, and crashed into my house. He then flew back and made a less than graceful landing in the fir tree next to the hen house. Finally, he flew toward the woods, and the last I heard were talons scraping bark, so I guess he made another stellar landing."

Buteo (hawk, buzzard)
[information to be posted]

Buteo lineatus (red-shouldered hawk) [information to be posted]

Buteo platypterus (broad-winged hawk) [information to be posted]

Buteo jamaicensis (red-tailed hawk) [information to be posted]

Buteo lagopus (rough-legged hawk) [information to be posted]

Aquila
[information to be posted]

Aquila chrysaetos (golden eagle) [information to be posted]