A Photo Study of Roosting Common Nighthawks (Chordeilus minor)

I have been fascinated by Nighthawks since I was a little girl. I would often spend a good deal of time perched on my grandfather’s haystack watching them. The evening sky was thick with them back in those days. Back then I had no idea that they were properly named, Common Nighthawks, in fact I had no idea there was any other kind of Nighthawk.

Since those days I know a bit more about these very interesting birds that summer here in North America and winter in South America. I have learned that they are Nightjars and are sometimes also referred to as “Goatsuckers” because once upon a time people thought that they flew into barns at night to suck the teats of goats! How bizarre and what active imaginations those people had. They don’t do this but they are strange looking birds that are active during the twilight hours before sunset and dawn; crepuscular, so I can see how people might think creepy things about them. During the darkest part of twilight you might not see them but could hear their “peents”, “booms” and “aug, aug” sounds. I suppose these sounds increased the eerie factor and added to the folklore about them.

Common Nighthawks (Chordeiles minor) are 9.5” in length, they weigh 2.2 oz. (62 g), and their wingspan is 24”. Their flight is bat like and erratic which has led to another sort of nick name for them, “Bullbat”. To me their amazing aerobatic flight is more like a fighter jet or the alien fighter crafts like we see in the movies. I think that their maneuvers are simply breathtaking.

The plumage of the Common Nighthawk has evolved to make them pretty much invisible to diurnal predators. Their earthy hued feathers have a beauty all their own, they are really very striking. Male and female Nighthawks are almost identical but the male has a white band on the tail that the female does not have and the female’s throat patch is more of a buff brownish and the male’s is white.

In the southwestern part of the United States it is possible to also see the Lesser Nighthawk (Chordeiles acutipennis). I traveled to Saint George, Utah to go birding several summers ago and I saw my first Lesser Nighthawks there. The Lesser Nighthawk is slightly smaller overall and the main way to distinguish it is that like the Common it also has a white wing bar but the Lesser’s is paler and closer to the wingtip than the Common’s which is nearer to the base of the primaries.

Nighthawk numbers have been pretty good around this part of Idaho this year. I know over all there is concern for them because populations have decreased dramatically in some areas.

A friend of mine, Dee Smith and her husband were camping at the Hayspur Fish Hatchery about twelve miles south of where I live in July. Dee and I went birding one morning while they were there and she told me that the trees were filled with roosting Common Nighthawks. Indeed they were everywhere! It was a great opportunity to photograph them perched about in various stages of relaxed to full-on sound asleep.

A few days later I was at the hatchery again and the Nighthawks were still all over the place. The day was different in that the temperature was in the high 90’s and the birds were hot. They were roosting again on the tops of shaded branches in the Russian Olive trees but it was clear from their postures and behavior that they were doing everything they could to stay cool. Some were engaging in gular fluttering; panting to expel some of the heat. Others were standing to expose as much of their skin areas as possible. Wings were lifted here and there, and some of their positions were quite unique. Birds don’t have sweat glands but they can perspire through their skin and it was easy to see that they were trying to “air” out as much as possible. A few of them even appeared to be hugging their shaded branch as tightly as possible in hopes of soaking up some of the coolness of it.

Here is the photo study of them roosting on both days and I think you will be able to tell which images were taken on the really hot day. My images are presented at resolutions ranging from 100 to 150 which causes them to appear not quite as sharply in focus as they really are.

I hope you enjoy seeing these wonderfully roosting interesting Common Nighthawks.