In reading Roger Burrows' report of a Broad-winged Hawk on Dec 10, 2009, it reminded me of the email that David's had sent on Feb 28 because I remembered that David's email had included details on his and Mary Majka's sighting of a Broad-winged Hawk in early December 2008 but I had never actually read all the details.

In reviewing David's email, I realized that he had included a sketch and a very detailed description of the bird he and Mary saw (which he had done for the NB Bird Records Committee).   His description, in my opinion, was a very good description of an immature Broad-winged Hawk and completely ruled out any other possible species.   For this reason, I have decided to include it on the winter list.

I still feel that suspected Broad-winged Hawks seen during the winter list period should be scrutinized very carefully to be certain of the ID because they are unusual records and brief observations could result in misidentifications.

That being said, now that we have a record which I feel confident was seen well enough to rule out any other species (based on the description provided), I'm a bit more open to accepting records of this species for the winter list; however, I would still like to know that in those cases, other species were considered and adequately ruled out.

I would appreciate it if people who see a Broad-winged Hawk during the winter list period could send me a description of the key field marks observed that allowed them to conclude that it was this species.   Obviously, photos or video of the bird would be even better if they are conclusive.

The issue of winter Broad-winged Hawk sightings has come up before and it's always a controversial issue. The problem is that, to the best of my knowledge, there has never been a well documented case of a Broad-winged Hawk in NB anytime after November and before April (maybe late March).

A number of the most experienced birders in NB feel that a Broad-winged Hawk in NB after November is highly unlikely and I tend to agree with that based on the migration patterns of the species (the vast majority of the population is moving through Mexico by mid-October). Birds of North America Online does state that they are "Occasionally reported in e. North America north to New England through early winter, but these are probably sick birds or late migrants rather than true winter residents" so there is a slight chance they could also occur in NB through early winter, but it is a very slight chance (nothing is impossible)

It seems that this will always remain a controversial issue (at least until one is well documented) and I want the winter list to be fun, not controversial, but I also want it to have some credibility.

For this reason, I've decided to take the following position: In the absence of tangible evidence such as photos or video (or perhaps multiple observers who can provide specific details on the sighting), I will only list it with a "?" to indicate that it was reported but that the evidence was inconclusive. It will not be counted in the total, but the "?" will at least show that it was reported.

Regardless of which position I take on this, I know some people will disagree with me and I'll likely hear about it but I'm prepared to deal with it.

With regards to the 1999/2000 record, I can't comment on that one as I don't have the specifics on that sighting. I took data from past winter lists at face value assuming that decisions had been made at the time those lists were compiled and I'm not going to go through and revisit all of the past records to determine if they should or shouldn't be on the list.