Broad-winged hawk
Buteo platypterus
Identification Tips:
- Sexes similar
- Short, dark, hooked beak
- Medium-sized, broad-winged, broad-tailed hawk
- Short, broad wings somewhat pointed at the tip
Light morph adult:
- Dark brown head, nape, upperwing, and back
- Pale breast with thick, reddish bars to belly
- Pale underwing with thick black margin to trailing edge
- Thick black and white bands on tail of even width
Light morph immature:
- Dark brown head, back, and upperwing
- Pale breast streaked with black
- Pale underwing with indistinct, broad, black trailing edge
- Tail dark brown above and pale below with dark bands
Dark morph adult:
- Rare breeder in Alberta and rare migrant in West and Midwest
- Dark chocolate brown head, back, breast, upperwings, belly, and
underwing coverts
- Black and white bands on tail of even width
- Pale silvery flight feathers below are barred with black
- Broad, black trailing edge to wings
Dark morph immature:
- Dark chocolate brown head, back, upperwings, breast, belly, and
undertail coverts often with paler rufous and white streaks
- Tail dark above and pale below with narrow dark bands
- Pale silvery flight feathers with some barring and often a pale,
rectangular window in the outer wing
- Indistinct dark margin to trailing edge of wing
Similar species:
Red-shouldered Hawk is similar in adult plumage but has reddish shoulders, a
pale crescent in the wings, lacks the distinct black border to the trailing
edge of the wing, and the white bands on the tail are much narrower than the
black bands. Immatures can be distinguished by shape and crescent-shaped
pale window in outer primaries. Dark morph Swainson's Hawk has pale undertail
coverts. Other dark buteos are much larger with much broader wings
(Red-tailed, Rough-legged, and Ferruginous). Immature dark morph Short-tailed
Hawk has darker secondaries that contrast with the pale primaries and does
not overlap with the range of the dark morph Broad-winged Hawk.