The Four Keys to ID
- Size & Shape
Broad-winged Hawks are small, compact raptors with chunky bodies and large heads. In flight, their broad wings come to a distinct point. The tail is short and square.
Relative Size
Slightly smaller than a Red-shouldered Hawk.
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- Both Sexes
- Length: 13.4-17.3 in (34-44 cm)
- Weight: 9.3-19.8 oz (265-560 g)
- Wingspan: 31.9-39.4 in (81-100 cm)
© David Brown / Macaulay Library
- Color Pattern
Adult Broad-winged Hawks have reddish-brown heads, barred underparts, and broad black and white bands on the tail. The pale undersides of the wings are bordered in dark brown. Juveniles are lighter brown with coarse streaking on the underparts, particularly on the sides of the breast; the tail is narrowly banded. In the West, rare dark-morph adults are completely dark sooty brown with a banded tail.
© Dan Vickers / Macaulay Library - Behavior
Broad-winged Hawks hunt small animals from perches underneath the forest canopy. They sometimes soar above the canopy or across gaps such as roadcuts. Their call is a piercing whistle on a single pitch.
- Habitat
Broad-winged Hawks live in forests and spend much of their time underneath the canopy. On migration they soar along coastlines and mountain ridges, often in very large flocks.
© Mark Kosiewski / Macaulay Library
Regional Differences
The rare dark morph of the Broad-winged Hawk is much more likely to be seen breeding in the western portion of its range and migrating through the eastern Great Plains and Texas. It is entirely sooty brown except for white bands in the tail.
