Broad-winged Hawk

Buteo platypterus

eBird offers this description of the Broad-winged Hawk:  Rather small, compact hawk; about the size of Red-shouldered Hawk, smaller than Red-tailed Hawk. Adults are solid brown above, barred reddish-brown below with bold black-and-white tail bands. Immatures similar, but with blotchier markings below and thin, diffuse tail bands. Distinctive shape in flight: note the short tail, straight leading edge of wing, and bulging secondaries in flight. Listen for high-pitched, piercing whistle coming from woodlands during breeding season. Known for forming massive flocks called kettles during migration, when it travels from the U.S. and Canada all the way to winter in Central and South America.

The Birds of the World website provides this introduction to this bird:  This small, stocky Buteo hawk, with its conspicuous, broad white-and-black tail bands, is a common breeder in large deciduous and mixed-deciduous forests of northeastern and north-central North America. It is a secretive species while nesting but conspicuous in migration. One of the few North American raptors that flocks during migration, Broad-winged Hawks are commonly seen in the tens of thousands at the peak of their fall and spring migrations in southern Texas, Mexico, and Central America.

Nesting pairs spend most of their time beneath the forest canopy, perch-hunting for insects, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and birds. Territorial adults can be located by their plaintive peee-uurr whistle, given during occasional soaring flights above the canopy. Wintering birds inhabit forest and forest edges from southern Mexico south through Brazil and Bolivia. Small numbers of mostly immature birds winter in south Florida and the Florida Keys. Endemic subspecies occur on several Caribbean islands.

Although some aspects of the Broad-winged Hawk’s migration behavior and breeding ecology have been well-documented, little is known about the species’ wintering ecology and other facets of its life history. Many observations of its life history come from one early study, and much remains poorly documented.

Few studies have examined color-marked birds or radio-tagged birds (Hengstenberg and Vilella 2005), or have followed individuals for more than two years.

I saw my first Broad-winged Hawk on the late afternoon of Sunday, February 5, 2023, perched in a tree near the mess hall at the La Selva Biological Research Center.  The hawk was cooperative, and I was able to get some fairly nice shots of this bird.  I can never get enough of hawks!  To see my blog post about my visit to La Selva, look here.  Below are a couple of the photos I took.

I watched another Broadwing Hawk mid-afternoon on February 9, 2023 at San Isidro, Costa Rica.  The bird was sitting in a wooded area across the street from the playing fields of a school.  I never tire of seeing a hawk!