The Broad-winged hawk (Buteo platypterus) is a medium-sized bird of prey found in the Americas. It has six recognised subspecies and each is named for its distribution. Some Broad-winged hawks have acclimatized themselves to living near humans, however, even those birds try to avoid human settlements and interactions.
Broad-winged hawks have relatively short and broad wings, pointed at the end, which have a tapered appearance unique to the species. An adult's body is a dark brown with a white belly and chest containing horizontal barring. Its tail can be a dark grey-black with white lines along the middle, base, and tip. The young hawks have a slightly different coloring with more white and longitudinal barring instead of horizontal barring. The two types of coloration are a dark morph with fewer white areas and a light morph that is more pale overall. The light morph of this bird is most likely to be confused with the red-shouldered hawk, which has a longer, more heavily barred tail and wings with a solid rufous color in the adult, which are usually distinctive. Rare dark morphs are a darker brown on both upperparts and underparts. Dark-morph short-tailed hawks are similar, but are whitish under the tail with a single subterminal band. As in most raptors, females are slightly larger than males.
Broad-winged hawks have a wide range in North America and South America, from southern Canada to southern Brazil. They breed in the northern and eastern parts of North America, and some migrate in the winter to Florida, southern Mexico, and northern South America. Some subspecies are native to the Caribbean and do not migrate. Broad-winged hawks breed in deciduous forests good for nesting and forage primarily in wetlands and meadows. In the winter, they settle in similar habitats staying in deciduous and mixed forests as well as cloud forests, and arid tropical scrub.
Broad-winged hawks are generally solitary and territorial birds; however, during migration, they become highly gregarious and migrating flocks can contain thousands of individuals. Broad-winged hawks are active during the day. To catch their prey, they watch from low branches, hiding in the foliage, until a target is spotted. From their roost, they do a short, fast glide to capture the prey. These birds give special attention to preparing their food for consumption, skinning frogs and snakes and plucking prey birds' feathers. Most small mammals, though, are eaten whole. They rarely drink water and are able to survive solely with the water present in their prey. Broad-winged hawks use vocalizations for communication with their mates and offspring, and in territorial displays towards intruders. Their call sounds like a very high-pitched kee-ee, almost like a whistle. When confronted with a threat, Broad-winged hawks emit an alarm call consisting of stuttered and squealing whistles.
Broad-winged hawks are monogamous and pairs usually stay together more than one breeding season. They breed between April and August. To attract and court females, the males perform a courtship display flight including cartwheels, dives, and other aerial acrobatics. Birds meet in the air, hook their feet together and spiral down together. The males also compete and fight with each other for the chance to mate with a female. Both the male and female build the nest out of sticks and twigs in a deciduous tree. The female lays 1 to 4 brown-spotted eggs that weigh about 42 g (1.5 oz). The female then develops a brood patch and incubates the eggs for 28 days or longer before they hatch.
The chicks hatch semialtricial; they are not able to move on their own or leave the nest but have open eyes and are covered in down feathers. While in the nest, the female gives most of the parental care, protecting and providing food for the chicks. The male may provide some food for the female and offspring, but his visits are short-lived. The chicks need around 5-6 weeks before they are able to leave the nest; however, some young, even after that time, remain in the area of the nest for several weeks more. They usually reach reproductive maturity at about two years of age.
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