Broad-winged hawks start their long journey south

At about 9:00 a.m. on a partly cloudy morning at Sunrise Mountain at Stokes State Forest in New Jersey, I spotted the first broad-winged hawk flying low over the ridge. The south-bound hawk gave observers a good look as it was being pushed by the 10-knot northwest breeze.

Before long, there were groups of three to four hawks, then groups of 30 to 50, and as the sun warmed the ground up, there were “kettles” of 100 or more birds riding the thermals. At times as the broad-wings streamed over, it seemed as if there was an aerial river of hawks over the Kittatinny Ridge. Before the day was over, there were almost 700 migrating hawks counted. The following day yielded over 2,200 broad-winged hawks.

The broad-winged hawk (Buteo platypterus) is a summer breeder in our region, migrating in the spring from points such as South America. It is inconspicuous when here in the summer, preferring un-fragmented forest landscape to build a nest and breed, typically laying two to three eggs. The high-pitched whistle call of this hawk, our smallest buteo, is very distinct, usually heard in flight and sometimes when perched.

This 20-ounce hawk may be inconspicuous in the summer, but when mid-September arrives, broad-winged hawks migrate through the area en-masse, forming kettles that number in the hundreds. Like most migrating raptors, they take advantage of the winds; most broad-winged hawks are seen when the wind is northerly.

A recent telemetry study by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology indicated that the birds (four in the study) traveled an average of 69 miles per day, logging an average total distance of 4,350 miles during the fall migration.