eBird maps track Broad-winged Hawk in fall

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In On the Move, our regular column about migration, we present pairs of distribution maps from eBird that you can use to compare where interesting birds are at different times of the year. We featured Broad-winged Hawk, pictured above, in our October 2018 issue.

Broad-winged Hawk

Shy and retreating during the breeding season, Broad-winged Hawk moves in stunning numbers along upland ridges and other migratory funnel points during the fall, where it migrates in large flocks or kettles of birds utilizing favorable wind conditions for long-distance migration. In June, the Broad-winged Hawk can be found in the eastern U.S. and the boreal forest of Canada, where it breeds in deciduous and mixed-deciduous woods. By September, many individuals have departed for southerly locations. Huge concentrations of migrating individuals occur at places like Hawk Ridge, on the southern shore of Lake Superior, and at Hawk Mountain, in the Pennsylvania Appalachians. Birders in the western U.S. and southwestern Canada can expect to see a small number of Broad-wingeds fly past hawk-watch sites on favorable weather days in September and early October.

See eBird’s real-time distribution maps for Broad-winged Hawk.

 

A version of this article appeared in “Birding Briefs” in the September/October 2018 issue of BirdWatching.

Originally Published September 25, 2018