Hi Wayne and Tweeters,

Your estimate of two or three Broad-winged Hawks per year being reported on southern Vancouver Island is a bit out of date. The numbers are probably closer to 10 to 20 per year, and I have a feeling that even those numbers may be a bit low. It's actually not been unusual to see two or three per day between Metchosin and Sooke the past few years. I think it's pretty obvious that the numbers of birds using this route are increasing. It is worth mentioning that there are virtually no records at all of Broad-winged Hawks on Vancouver Island outside of the southern areas west of Victoria. How the birds get to the southern tip of the island still remains a bit of a mystery. I've seen quite a few on southern Vancouver Island, where I rarely bird, and none anywhere else, despite the fact that I log a lot of field hours each year on central Vancouver Island.

Although it makes perfect sense that most, if not all, of the Broad-winged Hawks migrating from southern Vancouver Island and into Washington are coming from the nesting population in the central interior of BC, I don't think we have any confirmation of this as of yet. We do know that some of the Broad-winged Hawks seen at Hawk watches on the east slopes of the Rockies in the NE portion of the province each fall, are moving west into the lower passes which lead into the central interior. These birds seem to be the exception, but it is happening.

thanks,

Guy L. Monty
Nanoose Bay, Vancouver Island, BC
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