Broad-winged hawk
Buteo platypterus (Vieillot, 1823)
The broad-winged hawk (Buteo platypterus) is a species in the family Accipitridae, order Accipitriformes. Recorded adults weigh 420 g to 490 g and live up to 16.3 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
Quick facts about the broad-winged hawk
- Weight
- 420 g – 490 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 74 cm – 96 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- 16.3 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Carnivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 18.3 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- forestsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 29.5 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 2.5src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 12 months – 19.2 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Migratorysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the broad-winged hawk?
Where does the broad-winged hawk live?
Not recorded
What is the broad-winged hawk?
The broad-winged hawk (Buteo platypterus) is a medium-sized hawk of the genus Buteo. During the summer, some subspecies are distributed over eastern North America, as far west as British Columbia and Texas; they then migrate south to winter in the Neotropics from Mexico south to southern Brazil. Other subspecies are all-year residents on Caribbean islands. As in most raptors, females are slightly larger than males. Broad-winged hawks' wings are relatively short and broad with a tapered, somewhat pointed appearance. The two types of coloration are a dark morph with fewer white areas and a light morph that is more pale overall. Although the broad-winged hawk's overall population is increasing, populations are declining in some parts of its breeding range because of forest fragmentation.
From the Wikipedia article “Broad-winged hawk” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Broad-winged_hawk&oldid=1380657115), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
What does the broad-winged hawk sound like?
Is the broad-winged hawk endangered?
The broad-winged hawk is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the broad-winged hawk classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderAccipitriformes
- familyAccipitridae
- genusButeo
- SpeciesButeo platypterus (Vieillot, 1823)
Synonyms Buteo latissimus, Falco latissimus, Falco pennsylvanicus, Falco wilsonii, Sparvius platypterus
Other names and names in other languages (47)
- Broad-winged buzzardEnglish
- Aligot alaampleCatalan
- aligot d'ales amplesCatalan
- káně širokokřídláCzech
- bwncath adeinllydanWelsh
- Bredvinget VågeDanish
- BreitflügelbussardGerman
- BreitschwingenbussardGerman
- larĝflugila buteoEsperanto
- gavilán aludoSpanish
- Águila cuaresmeraSpanish
- Aguililla ala anchaSpanish
- Aguililla Alas AnchasSpanish
- Aguilucho alas anchasSpanish
- Busardo alianchoSpanish
- Gavilán alianchoSpanish
- Gavilan aludoSpanish
- Gavilán BoboSpanish
- Guaraguao de BosqueSpanish
- laitiib-viuEstonian
- viheltäjähiirihaukkaFinnish
- Petite BuseFrench
- Clamhán beag leathan-eiteachIrish
- Malfingcr
- TaguatoGuarani
- Malfini rak bwaHaitian Creole
- širokokrili škanjacCroatian
- szélesszárnyú ölyvHungarian
- Poiana alilargheItalian
- ハネビロノスリJapanese
- hanebironosuriJapanese
- plačiasparnis suopisLithuanian
- platspārnu klijānsLatvian
- breedvleugelbuizerdDutch
- bredvingevåkNorwegian
- Gekek (Cha’iins)Ojibwa
- myszołów szerokoskrzydłyPolish
- bútio-d'asa-largaPortuguese
- gavião-de-asa-largaPortuguese
- Ширококрылый канюкRussian
- myšiak širokokrídlySlovak
- Širokokrili mišarSerbian
- bredvingad vråkSwedish
- Koca Kanatlı ŞahinTurkish
- Geniş Kanatlı ŞahinTurkish
- канюк ширококрилийUkrainian
- 巨翅鵟Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the broad-winged hawk
Other species in the same genus Buteo.
Common buzzard
Buteo buteo
Rough-legged buzzard
Buteo lagopus
Long-legged buzzard
Buteo rufinus
Red-tailed hawk
Buteo jamaicensis
Upland buzzard
Buteo hemilasius
Galapagos hawk
Buteo galapagoensis
CompareBroad-winged hawk vs Common buzzardBroad-winged hawk vs Rough-legged buzzardBroad-winged hawk vs Long-legged buzzardBroad-winged hawk vs Red-tailed hawk
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the broad-winged hawk?
An adult broad-winged hawk weighs 420 g – 490 g and has a wingspan of 74 cm – 96 cm, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the broad-winged hawk endangered?
The broad-winged hawk is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
How long does the broad-winged hawk live?
The broad-winged hawk has a recorded lifespan of 16.3 years.
What kind of animal is the broad-winged hawk?
The broad-winged hawk (Buteo platypterus) belongs to the family Accipitridae in the order Accipitriformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Broad-winged hawk (Buteo platypterus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/broad-winged-hawk
“Broad-winged hawk (Buteo platypterus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/broad-winged-hawk.
@misc{broad_winged_hawk_2026,
title = {Broad-winged hawk (Buteo platypterus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/broad-winged-hawk},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}