Bird
Broad-winged Hawk
Buteo platypterus
A summer resident that nests in West Virginia. Found in all 55 counties, across 10 habitats.
- Here
- Summer
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 55 counties
- Habitats
- 10

At a glance
- Group
- Birds
- Here
- Summer
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 55 counties
- Habitats
- 10
- Habitat models
- Summer, Winter
Where it lives
The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.
Habitats in West Virginia 10
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Floodplain and bottomland forests
Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.
Streams, rivers and their banks
Flowing water and its banks, bars and rocky shoals.
Forested wetlands with standing water much of the year, such as cypress and gum swamps.
Forests and open woodlands on dry ridges and slopes, often oak or pine.
Shady, evergreen forests of eastern or Carolina hemlock, often along rocky mountain streams and in gorges.
Forests between dry and moist, often oak-hickory on slopes.
Forests on moist but not wet ground, such as rich slopes and ravines.
Sheltered, moist mountain hollows and lower slopes with deep, fertile soil.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Tree plantations and managed pine
Planted or intensively managed stands of pine or hardwoods grown for timber; a land use rather than a natural community.
Other habitats in its models (64)
Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in West Virginia.
- Central and Southern Appalachian Northern Hardwood Forest Summer, only within 250 m of water.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Limestone Forest Summer and winter, only within 250 m of water.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Plain Oak-Hickory Upland - Hardwood Modifier Summer and winter, only within 250 m of water.
- Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest-Hardwood Modifier Summer, only within 250 m of water.
- Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer, only within 250 m of water.
- Ozark-Ouachita Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Summer, only within 250 m of water.
- Southern Interior Low Plateau Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Summer and winter, only within 250 m of water.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Dry Upland Hardwood Forest Summer and winter, only within 250 m of water.
- Crosstimbers Oak Forest and Woodland Summer, only within 250 m of water.
- North-Central Interior Dry-Mesic Oak Forest and Woodland Summer, only within 250 m of water.
- North-Central Interior Dry Oak Forest and Woodland Summer, only within 250 m of water.
- Ouachita Montane Oak Forest Summer, only within 250 m of water.
- North-Central Interior Beech-Maple Forest Summer, only within 250 m of water.
- North-Central Interior Maple-Basswood Forest Summer, only within 250 m of water.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Bluff Forest Summer and winter, only within 250 m of water.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Loess Bluff Forest Summer and winter, only within 250 m of water.
- Southern Coastal Plain Dry Upland Hardwood Forest Summer and winter, only within 250 m of water.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry and Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Summer and winter, only within 250 m of water.
- Mississippi River Alluvial Plain Dry-Mesic Loess Slope Forest Summer, only within 250 m of water.
- East-Central Texas Plains Riparian Forest Summer and winter.
- Ozark-Ouachita Dry Oak Woodland Summer, only within 250 m of water.
- Southern Piedmont Mesic Forest Summer and winter, only within 250 m of water.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood Forest Summer, only within 250 m of water.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Mesic Hardwood Forest Summer and winter, only within 250 m of water.
- Ozark-Ouachita Mesic Hardwood Forest Summer, only within 250 m of water.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Mesic Slope Forest Summer and winter, only within 250 m of water.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest - Hardwood Modifier Summer and winter, only within 250 m of water.
- Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Hardwood Modifier Summer and winter, only within 250 m of water.
- Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Pine Modifier Summer, only within 250 m of water.
- Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest - Pine modifier Summer, only within 250 m of water.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer and winter, only within 250 m of water.
- Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer and winter, only within 250 m of water.
- Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry Hardwood Forest Summer, only within 250 m of water.
- Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest Summer, only within 250 m of water.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood and Mixed Forest Summer and winter, only within 250 m of water.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Summer and winter, only within 250 m of water.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Summer and winter, only within 250 m of water.
- Southern Piedmont Glade and Barrens Winter, only within 250 m of water.
- Recently Burned Grassland Winter, only within 250 m of water.
- South Florida Everglades Sawgrass Marsh Winter.
- South Florida Mangrove Swamp Winter.
- Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Basin Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Taxodium/Nyssa Modifier Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Oak Dominated Modifier Summer and winter.
- South Florida Dwarf Cypress Savanna Winter.
- South Florida Cypress Dome Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Blackwater Stream Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Summer and winter.
- Southern Piedmont Large Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Summer and winter.
- Mississippi River Riparian Forest Summer.
- Mississippi River Low Floodplain (Bottomland) Forest Summer.
- Southern Coastal Plain Hydric Hammock Winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Forest Summer.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest Summer.
- Southern Piedmont Small Floodplain and Riparian Forest Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Brownwater River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
- Red River Large Floodplain Forest Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Brownwater Stream Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
- Mississippi River Floodplain and Riparian Forest Summer.
- Ozark-Ouachita Riparian Summer.
- South-Central Interior / Upper Coastal Plain Wet Flatwoods Winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Nonriverine Wet Hardwood Flatwoods Summer.
Seasons in West Virginia
- Summer: nests here, in all 55 counties.
Also found in this habitat
Plants 714
Plants named in NatureServe descriptions of these habitats that grow in West Virginia. Shared habitat, not food.
- Glade SpurgeEuphorbia purpurea
- American BeechFagus grandifolia
- Canada Wood-nettleLaportea canadensis
- Northern SpicebushLindera benzoin
- Canada MayflowerMaianthemum canadense
- American GinsengPanax quinquefolius
- Virginia CreeperParthenocissus quinquefolia
- American BasswoodTilia americana
- Poison-ivyToxicodendron radicans
- White MonkshoodAconitum reclinatum
- Black CohoshActaea racemosa
- White SnakerootAgeratina altissima
- American Hog-peanutAmphicarpaea bracteata
- Great Indian-plantainArnoglossum reniforme
- Yellow BirchBetula alleghaniensis
- Summer SedgeCarex aestivalis
- Pretty SedgeCarex woodii
- American HornbeamCarpinus caroliniana
- Red HickoryCarya ovalis
- American ChestnutCastanea dentata
- Common Blue CohoshCaulophyllum thalictroides
- Eastern RedbudCercis canadensis
- Sweet-fernComptonia peregrina
- Poverty OatgrassDanthonia spicata
Wildlife 199
Other animals whose habitat models include the same habitats in West Virginia. Not sighting records.
- Alder FlycatcherEmpidonax alnorum
- American GoldfinchCarduelis tristis
- American RobinTurdus migratorius
- Black-capped ChickadeePoecile atricapillus
- Blue GrosbeakPasserina caerulea
- Blue-gray GnatcatcherPolioptila caerulea
- Carolina WrenThryothorus ludovicianus
- Cedar WaxwingBombycilla cedrorum
- Chimney SwiftChaetura pelagica
- Common NighthawkChordeiles minor
- Common RavenCorvus corax
- Cooper's HawkAccipiter cooperii
- Eastern KingbirdTyrannus tyrannus
- European StarlingSturnus vulgaris
- Great Horned OwlBubo virginianus
- Least FlycatcherEmpidonax minimus
- Mourning DoveZenaida macroura
- Northern CardinalCardinalis cardinalis
- Northern FlickerColaptes auratus
- Northern MockingbirdMimus polyglottos
- Purple FinchCarpodacus purpureus
- Red-tailed HawkButeo jamaicensis
- Ruby-crowned KingletRegulus calendula
- Sharp-shinned HawkAccipiter striatus
NatureServe Explorer, CC BY 4.0. USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models.
Sources
- USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models (2001)
- USGS GAP winter habitat model for Broad-winged Hawk
- USGS Gap Analysis Project range maps (2001), modeled by watershed; migratory gives no dates
- NatureServe Explorer (CC BY 4.0), habitat names
- US Census TIGER/Line counties
- Names follow the USGS Gap Analysis Project (2001)













































