The Common Nighthawk is not actually a hawk but a member of the Nightjar family, described by Roger Tory Peterson as “nocturnal birds with ample tails, large eyes, tiny bills, large bristled gapes, very short legs.” Like a bat, Common Nighthawks feed “on the wing” at dusk and dawn. And most photographs, as this one, capture their image in rest during the day. (Public Domain photo courtesy of Dr. Thomas G. Barnes, University of Kentucky.) However, the nighthawk’s appearance as a slim, stubby-legged individual camouflaged against ground or branch cannot prepare you for its image in the sky—as one of hundreds in migratory flight.
On two successive evenings earlier this month, I watched as hundreds of Common Nighthawks sailed overhead.
Common Nighthawks breed all across this country, far into Canada, and along the western coast of Central America (as depicted in the Range Map provided by Cornell Lab’s All About Birds). But as fall approaches they congregate in large numbers to migrate into South America, where they spend winters.
This year, the sky above my property was on their flight path.
Earlier this month, outside with the dogs at about dusk, I noticed what I first took to be a large mass of migrating blackbirds. But on closer look, I could see these were no blackbirds. Their wings were very long and pointed and their tails were notched. But most noticeable were the white vertical strips toward their wingtips.
Are they hawks? I wondered, rushing in for my binoculars.
Most flew many hundreds of feet in the air, while others flew low enough for my binoculars to catch flashes of their striped buff-colored underbellies. Like many battalions of planes they soared overhead, silent and steadfast, as if on a mission. I stood, craning my neck, watching in wonder.
Only after browsing my bird guides to I discover that these impressive gray-brown birds were none other than Common Nighthawks. Not so common to my eyes.
Till next time . . . Keep birds in your heart!
Georgia Anne
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