Category: Focus: Wildlife
-
On The Wing News: Winter 2026
In this edition of On The Wing, we look at LightHawk’s role in the long-term recovery of the Mexican wolf, including collaboration with partners working directly on the ground. The other wildlife mission focuses on aerial monitoring, showing how a small aircraft can provide the perspective needed to understand changing conditions across landscapes and shorelines.…
-
Pilot View: California Condors Return to Northern California
The reintroduction of California condors to parts of Northern California is an interesting story. It’s one that deserves to be told but would not be complete without seeing the land as a condor sees it – from the air. The Yurok Tribe (a LightHawk conservation partner) is one of many indigenous cultures that view the…
-
Capturing a Condor’s Story of Survival
The return of California condors to Northern California is a story best understood from both the ground and the air. Their vast range stretches across rugged forests, mountains and coastline, connecting landscapes that are difficult to comprehend from any single vantage point. LightHawk recently flew conservation partner Natives Outdoors over Redwood National and State Parks…
-
Pilot View: Preserving Pacific Flyway Habitat for Sandhill Cranes
There’s one thing for certain when you take to the skies – once you leave the ground, you’ll eventually need to land. That’s not just true for our volunteer pilots. It’s also true for our feathered friends. For Sandhill Cranes flying through Central California, agricultural fields are a vital part of their migratory journey. Photographer…
-
Pilot View: Flying West with Endangered Masked Bobwhite Quail
When first described by scientists, the masked bobwhite quail thrived across the Southwestern United States and into Central Mexico. By the turn of the century, however, the population began to decline. And by the late 1940s, the birds were believed to be extinct. That changed in 1964, when an Arizona taxidermist followed reports of quail…