15 inches long with a 34 inch wingspan. The Broad-winged Hawk is similar in size to a stocky crow. It has short, broad, relatively pointed wings. The Broad-winged Hawk flies with relatively flat wings. The underwings appear pale with a dark border starting at the primary tips around to the back edge of the wings. The wing linings can be white to rusty in color. The adult has a dark brown head, back, and upperwing. There is much variation in the amount of reddish bars on the belly. The tail shows wide black and white bands. The juvenile has brown streaks on the breast and narrower tail bands.
The Broad-winged Hawk is a common migrant in the area and can be seen migrating along the bluffs. This bird migrates through in mainly late April/early May and again in mid September. Occasionally Broad-wing Hawks nest in the forest.
The Broad-winged Hawk migrates in large flocks coming through the Omaha area in the spring and again in the fall generally following ridge lines where it catches the wind. The call is a piercing high whistle on one pitch such as “peeweeeee”.
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