Hawk Cliff, Bird observation cliff on Lake Erie shore, Ontario, Canada
Hawk Cliff is a cliff in the Union area of Elgin County, Ontario, standing about 214 metres above sea level on the north shore of Lake Erie, roughly 12 km south of St. Thomas. The land around it is flat farmland cut by drainage canals, and the cliff edge gives an open view over the lake.
In the late 1800s, naturalists began recording raptor movements at this location and recognized its importance as a migration corridor. By the mid-1900s, these observations grew into formal monitoring programs that continue today.
Hawk Cliff is a counting site for the Hawk Cliff Raptor Banding Station, where volunteers trap and band hawks each autumn. Visitors can watch the banding demonstrations during the Hawk Cliff Hawk Festival, held on weekends in September.
Access to the site is via Fairview Avenue south of St. Thomas, which becomes Hawk Cliff Road at the intersection with Dexter Line. The area is most active and accessible during the autumn migration season from September through October.
Hawk Cliff sits at 214 m above sea level, about 12 km north of St. Thomas, on land where the surrounding terrain is flat farmland. The cliff is one of several rises near a small drainage channel; the higher ground 6 km to the southwest reaches 256 m.
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