Raptors Connecting Cultures: The Migration of an Education Manual Across the Americas
Posted on in In the Field by Dalí Téllez Girón Jiménez, Education Trainee, Autumn 2022
You only protect what you love, and you only love what you know.
That idea is the heart of Rapaces Conectando Culturas (Raptors Connecting Cultures), a new educational manual for teachers and educators designed to help children connect with birds of prey and nature conservation through engaging activities and accessible resources.
This project was conceived at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary during my traineeship in fall 2022. While planning to collaborate with the Colombian team conducting raptor migration counts, we began discussing how we could support teachers in public schools along the migration corridor. From those conversations, the idea for a teacher’s manual was born—one that educators could easily use in the classroom to introduce students to raptors, migration, and conservation.
The project took three years to complete and was truly a collaborative effort across at least three countries: Mexico (Veracruz River of Raptors), Colombia (Trópicos Colombia), and the United States through Hawk Mountain Sanctuary. Our goal from the beginning was to create a resource that could move with the birds—spreading along the migratory corridor throughout the Americas.
We wanted the manual to be easy to use, visually engaging, and friendly—almost like a comic, so it would appeal to both teachers and students. To make it truly special, we invited Ana María Savarino, a Mexican artist who is also a biologist, birder, and educator, to illustrate the book.
We also wanted the content to be practical and interactive. The manual includes many ideas and resources, such as QR codes linking to short, engaging educational videos. For this, we partnered with Alberto Lobato, a Mexican ornithologist and environmental educator, whose YouTube channel features excellent videos on birds and conservation. Alberto selected videos to complement each chapter.
View and download the interactive manual here:
Rapaces Manual
Teacher manual written in Spanish for teaching youth about raptors in neotropics, adaptations, migration, birding, etc. Authored by HMS Trainee Dali Sparverius
Download
In September and October of 2025, I was finally able to travel to Colombia and bring printed copies of the manual in person. Together with Esther Vallejo, a fellow Hawk Mountain Sanctuary alumna and leader of the Trópicos Colombia migration count site, Luisa María Agredo, Education Coordinator, and Diego Cervera, site counter, we distributed more than 20 copies to school teachers and independent educators in the Tolima region, including Ibagué and surrounding communities such as Lérida, Líbano, and Villahermosa.
We visited schools, led activities with teachers and students, went birding together, and talked (often and enthusiastically!) about raptor migration, conservation challenges, and the history of Hawk Mountain Sanctuary and other migration count sites across the Americas.
Today, we have a growing network of educators who are actively using the manual in their curricula. Through Trópicos Colombia, we are able to stay connected, follow up with teachers, and continue working together in future seasons. Our goal is to keep strengthening and nurturing this educator network across the region. Esther has even confirmed that the guide will be used by educators again for this coming spring migration.
The next phase of the project is to bring Rapaces Conectando Culturas to the Veracruz River of Raptors in Mexico, and potentially to other countries along the migratory corridor, such as Costa Rica or Panama.
Eventually, I would love to translate the manual into English as well so this book, like the raptors it celebrates, can continue migrating even farther.