Broad-Winged Hawks

Broad-winged hawks.  Broad-winged hawks are moving in large numbers this week along the Des Moines River.  A few pairs nest in Iowa but the bulk of these birds are migrants from Canada and Minnesota.  They are on an epic journey of 4000 plus miles to wintering grounds in Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Brazil.  They move in large groups called kettles of 30 to 300 birds.  If you see a cluster of hawks at a distance there is a good chance they are broad-winged hawks.