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
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.
