This is a broad‑winged hawk (Buteo platypterus). I haven’t seen one recently, and I captured this image some time ago. Every time I’ve spotted one, it’s been high overhead, making it tough to get a detailed, close‑up shot.
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"A broad‑winged hawk glides overhead, suspended in a clean, endless blue sky. You see it from below, as if you’re standing in a clearing and it has chosen that exact moment to pass above you. Its wings are spread wide—broad, rounded, and powerful—each feather catching the sunlight in a slightly different shade of brown, cream, and charcoal. The patterning is striking: dark bands along the trailing edges of the wings, pale mottling across the chest and belly, and a tail marked with bold, even stripes that look almost painted on.
The hawk’s body is compact and muscular, built for soaring on rising air. From this angle, the bird feels both close and unreachable—its silhouette sharp, its motion effortless. There’s a sense of quiet authority in the way it holds itself aloft, as though the sky belongs to it alone. The simplicity of the background, nothing but blue, makes the hawk’s details even more vivid: the layered feathers, the barred tail, the subtle curve of the wings as they adjust to invisible currents.
It’s a moment of stillness and motion at once—an intimate glimpse of a wild creature doing exactly what it was made to do." - Microsoft Copilot