It does not belong to that group of birds commonly known as hawks. It lacks their gripping talons and tearing mandibles.
Nor, strictly speaking, is it a bird of the night, as most owls are.
Finally, the common nighthawk is not common. It is widespread, however, occurring across North America except for Alaska, the Canadian North and the desert Southwest.
So, how did the common nighthawk earn its name?
It is an aerial hunter, as hawks are. It essentially strains the air through its large mouth, taking flying insects.
Nighthawks take the day off, usually resting on a tree limb or on the ground. They become active at twilight. Scientists use the word “crepuscular” to describe this behavior.
Several closely related birds exhibit these same characteristics. Together, they are referred to as “nightjars.” The family includes such species as whippoorwills, poorwills and several other nighthawks.
The common nighthawk is the most often encountered. Hence the word “common” distinguishes it from its relatives.
The status of this species is in some question, as shown by an exchange of posts on the Grand Cities Bird Club listserv. Dave Lambeth, well known as the dean of local birders, wrote, “We are seeing the occasional common nighthawk flying over our area of Grand Forks. It seems like there used to be a lot more.”
This brought a reply from Heidi Hughes near Warren, Minn. She said, “The flight of nighthawks over here at the Agassiz Valley Impoundment has been pretty spectacular this past week. Lots of insects in the air. Last night around 7.30 there were 50-plus flying over the big pool by 210th Street and 28th Avenue.”
Lambeth replied: “I am glad to see your report of a good number of nighthawks. We used to see them stream by at this time of year in numbers of a hundred or more in an hour or so.
“As always with birding, maybe it is a matter of being in the right place at the right time!”
Lambeth’s certainly right about being in position to see the birds.
Sadly for me, I haven’t been in the right position as far as nighthawks are concerned for quite a few years—since we were living in the Riverside neighborhood in Grand Forks. The deck was on the north side of our house on Conklin Avenue, and I could sit out there and have a clear view of the northern sky. More than once I spent August evenings watching nighthawks moving southward. My best count was close to 200 birds.
But that was 25 years ago.
I have seen nighthawks since then, but mostly as single birds or pairs of birds. This isn’t unusual in Grand Forks. I’ve also seen them on Badlands camping trips.
At first thought, urban Grand Forks and the North Dakota Badlands seem distant and unlike, but both have the habitat nighthawks like—bare spots and lots of bugs.
In Grand Forks, nighthawks nest on bare roofs, including Columbia Mall. I’ve seen them hunting over parking lots there. I’ve also seen them over the UND campus. They must have found suitable nesting sites on some of the buildings.
Nighthawks nest on bare ground, and that is plentiful in the Badlands. I’ve flushed the birds hidden along hiking trails.
Nighthawks are superbly adapted for bare spots and open air. Their coloration is cryptic in the extreme. A nighthawk at rest is an amalgam of blotches, brown, black and white. There may be a pattern, but it is not immediately discernable. This makes the bird practically impossible to pick out of leaf litter, gravel or on a rooftop.
In the air, though, the nighthawk is another creature entirely.
It is instantly recognizable by its long, pointed wings. These are marked on the underside by conspicuous patches of white.
The wings make the nighthawk a superb aerialist, propelling it through the air and allowing it to make quite spectacular dives. The first is a hunting strategy. The second is a courtship display.
In the course of these dives, the air pushes through the feathers of the nighthawk’s wings, producing a booming sound. This is characteristic of spring evenings. Nighthawks occasionally dive at other times, so perhaps they do it just for fun.
Nighthawks do not soar, as true hawks do. Instead, their flight seems rather jerky. It’s been described as “bat like.”
Nighthawks also vocalize. Their most common call is a nasal “Peent!”
That’s how Hughes signed her post.
Nighthawks are summer birds, arriving about Memorial Day. Usually, they are among the last of the local nesting species to make an appearance.
They leave early. The southward passage of nighthawks ends by mid-September.
That means they spend nearly nine months of the year away from our area, in South America.