A BIRD’S EYE VIEW:
How Rosalie Barrow Edge Saved
The Hawks of Kittatinny Ridge

In the early 19th century, Kittatinny Ridge, Pennsylvania was a dangerous place for many birds of prey, including the nation’s beloved bird, the bald eagle. This was not due to any natural occurrences, but rather the hunters waiting below.  Come fall, the birds would migrate and fly through, not knowing that they played the central role in a yearly event where many hawks and eagles would become targets in the hunters’ game.  

No one had considered that this practice would be harmful for the population of rapidly depleting native wildlife in North America.  

The voice of protest would be activist Rosalie Barrow Edge who would inspire conservation for raptors and introduced a perspective against the hawk hunts. Her compassion for the native birds of America would lead her to save these birds in a way the National Audobon Society and other conservation groups had ignored, she would turn Kittatinny Ridge into Hawk Mountain Sanctuary the world’s first refuge for birds of prey!