ID Quiz - September 14, 2020

They are Broad-winged Hawks!

The fact that there are so many hawks in the same photo in Pennsylvania is a good clue as to the species, since Broad-wings are the only hawks that migrate in large groups. Supporting features include the rather pointed wings, and the white band bisecting the tail visible on some of the birds.

Be sure to look for kettles of Broad-wings during sunny days in mid-September (roughly September 13 through 23) each year. Any hawk watch could potentially get 1,000+ (sometimes many thousands) birds in a day, and if you're lucky, really just about anywhere with an open view of the sky could get similar numbers, since they aren't really dependent on the ridges, preferring to use thermals to gain lift.

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