The Puerto Rican broad-winged hawk is a dark chocolate brown, small hawk that measures approximately 39 centimeters (15.5 inches). It is smaller than the Buteo platypterus platypterus but larger than the Lesser Antillean subspecies. This is the darkest subspecies of the broad-winged hawk. In adults, the tail, broadly banded with black and white, and the rufous breast are characteristic. Immature birds have dark bars on the breast and lack the distinctive tail bands of the adult. Broadwings flap more than the similar but larger red-tailed hawk (Raffaele 1989). Knowledge of the biology of the Puerto Rican broad-winged hawk is limited. Snyder et al. (1987) conducted food-habit studies on one of the three nests found in the Caribbean National Forest in 1976 and one nest found in R¡o Abajo in 1978. The prey types taken included centipedes, frogs, lizards, mice, rats and birds (as large as 200 grams).