Revered raptors, dedicated citizen scientists, and a fragile desert ecosystem — the film HAWKWATCH brings them all together.
At the heart of this story is a passionate group of volunteers in Borrego Springs, California, who work tirelessly to protect a critical stopover for migrating Swainson’s Hawks. Their mission: to safeguard one of the planet’s most remarkable avian journeys and inspire a new generation of “Hawksters” to carry the work forward.

But their efforts face mounting challenges. An aging volunteer base, human-driven climate change, unchecked development, and shifting natural patterns all threaten to disrupt this delicate link in the migration chain. In a world where habitat loss accelerates daily, the stakes couldn’t be higher — not just for the hawks, but for the desert they depend on.

Filmed over two full migration seasons beginning in 2023, HAWKWATCH spans key raptor corridors from Veracruz, Mexico to California’s Antelope Valley and the Gulf flyways of Corpus Christi, Texas. The documentary captures the breathtaking beauty of raptor migration — a 20,000-mile odyssey — while illuminating the urgent conservation efforts of a small community determined to make a difference.

HAWKWATCH is both a tribute to the resilience of birds and people, and a call to action to preserve the wild rhythms of the sky before they slip away.