Broad-winged Hawk
Scientific name: Buteo platypterus
Family name: Accipitridae

Are they endangered? They are not endangered worldwide.  (IUCN Red list: Least concern).

What are their past/present problems? Hunters used to shoot them when they were migrating.  It is against the law to do this so now there are more Broad-winged Hawks around.

What do they look like?  Broad-winged Hawks have brown backs, with a white belly and chest that have reddish-brown stripes on it.  Their legs are yellow and they have a spot above their beaks that is yellow, too.  Their eyes are reddish-orange.

How big are they? These birds are from 13 to 19 inches long.  If they spread their wings out, their wingspan would be over 3 feet wide.

How many eggs do they lay?  The female lays from 2 to 4 bluish white eggs once a year.  They hatch in about a month.

How long do the fledglings stay in the nest? The nest is made of sticks, leaves, and pieces of tree bark.  The babies stay in the nest for a month.

When do they hunt?  They hunt during the daytime. (diurnal)
What do they eat?  They like to eat reptiles, small birds, rabbits, amphibians, and MICE!  They swoop down from a perch to grab prey. 
Where do they live? They live in the United States, the Caribbean Islands, South and Central America.

What kind of place do they like to live in? They like to build nests where the limb of a tree joins with the trunk.  They like forests with leafy trees and evergreen trees.
Interesting facts:
Broad-winged Hawks used to be shot while they were migrating.  Now it is illegal to shoot them so their numbers are increasing.
Their flocks can have thousands of hawks in them.  Bird watchers really like to see large migrations like this.
They use thermals and updrafts so that they use less energy when they fly.  Broad-wing Hawks fly when the sun is at its hottest in the middle of the day so that they can use the thermals.

Works Cited:

Alsop, Fred.  Birds of North America.  New York:  DK Publishing, 2001.

Buteos  http://hawkmountain.org/media/Buteos.pdf

Raptor Bites: Broad-winged hawks.  04 Dec. 2007.  <http://hawkmountain.org/media/speciesinfo.pdf>.