Common Nighthawks

[Brendan McKay]

Hello everyone, I want to talk Common Nighthawks with those who are interested. First, I love all aspects of migration. I focus on arrival and departure dates for many local species but there are a few that get me really excited and Common Nighthawks are one of them. Every year mid to late August I anticipate seeing groups of these birds migrating over my yard in Portland on warm evenings when there are few or no clouds in the sky. Normally I have several sightings by September but this year I didn't see any in August despite my efforts to scan the skies each promising evening. Tonight I counted 44 pass over my house a little after 6:30pm. First I spotted a single bird flying low with typical buoyant flight. Normally when there is one, there are more so I started to scan the sky and quickly spotted a large group of birds flying high towards the SW. My immediate impression was not that of Common Nighthawk: this group was fairly tight in formation, was flying steadily and directly and my quick thought was that it was a group of American Robins. These however turned out to be a group of 43 Common Nighthawks. They changed direction as a group and flew over my house towards the East. I've never seen this species fly so directly and persistently, without glides or other acrobatics. Has anyone else seen this species migrate this way?

There were thunderstorms to the North, so maybe they were flying more deliberately to get out of the path of the storms? 

Additionally, has anyone else found that they missed seeing Common Nighthawks at the normal time this year?

Looking at eBird graphs, this species has moved through earlier in August the last two years with fewer sightings. The orange line bellow is 2022.

For those of you who made it to the end, thanks for reading!

Cheers,

Brendan

[Anne Swann]

I had a remarkable amount on July 31st at the retention ponds at Mount Desert Island High School. 20 -30 swooping all over the place. It was really thrilling. Previous to that date, in the evenings... I had not seen any. 

[Julia Hanauer-Milne]

I had a decent flight of about two dozen over my house in Sidney this August. They don't always come through here, often sticking closer to the Kennebec on the way down. I had a few more several evenings later that week too. I love watching them, though it's a bittersweet rite of passage marking the end of summer. 

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[Mike Chace-Ortiz]

Funny you mention these birds, which I haven’t seen in Westbrook for a while but there were a pair overhead at about 7:45pm last night.

Cheers

—mco

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[Steve Patterson]

Brendan and others,

This may not apply directly to what you're asking, but just for context, my friends here in upstate South Carolina have been keeping up with the passage of Common Nighthawks over the past week.  The largest single flight so far was 35 swarming over a milo field for 20 minutes or more.  Most flights are directional and involve 2-10 birds.   The first ones we noticed came through on August 31.

Several of the early flights in this region move northeast, and then we eventually see groups heading south some days later.  The best time of day to detect them is between 7:00 and 8:00 PM.  They move through for such a short period of time that it's fun and fascinating to find them.  

Steve Patterson

a Maine birder at heart

who has always lived in SC

Anderson, SC

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[Janeen Chin]

I have never seen them, but I love watching bats. You have inspired me to look for them. Thank you for sharing Brendan.

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[tom A]

Hi Brendan,

This year, I have been nighthawk-less here in my yard in Unity where I often watch in late afternoons and evenings.

I did see two large groups totaling 110 moving through the Hudson Valley last week.  I was also surprised at their direct flight.  Both groups did not mess around and just booked it away from us.  This may not be that unusual.  In my yard when I get lucky, they often pause to feed on flying ant hatches so linger while feeding.

Good birding,

tom

On Sunday, September 4, 2022 at 9:48:39 PM UTC-4 thank....@gmail.com wrote:

[Sarah Caputo]

I rarely see them in my yard, however I did hear one calling and then booming last week here.  He is off schedule I guess.  I do see them flying in groups over Thompson ridge area in Searsmont but not yet this year.

Sarah

Montville

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[Jessica Costa]

The largest push of CONI I've seen this year was the evening of August 27 over the Brunswick area, several groups of 5 to 10 birds seen as I was driving through Brunswick and towards Durham. Still seeing 1-3 CONI some evenings, as recent as yesterday.

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[Carly Rodgers]

On Saturday, September 3, I saw 57 common nighthawks heading north over Hancock Pond in Denmark over the course of about 20-30 minutes. Last summer, around this same time of year and location, there were hundreds (upwards of 500-600) observed flying over the pond. 

- Carly 

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Carly Rodgers, Ph.D.

Licensed Psychologist
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(She/Her/Hers)

On Sep 5, 2022, at 6:39 PM, Jessica Costa <jessly...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[helen...@gmail.com]

I was out on an evening walk I believe Friday 9/2 and realized I had not been watching the late summer skies for the nighthawks. Just then one flew over, then another, then another. On my brief 20 minute walk around the Back Cove neighborhood in Portland I saw about 3 dozen. Behaving in an individual way, I suppose. Each one flying on their own path, but all in the same general trajectory which to me seemed straight west. There was a few seconds of time between each, and a lot of twisting and diving. I was so happy to catch them! Thanks for your interest!

Helen

[Brendan McKay]

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and observations of Common Nighthawks over the last few weeks. All of your responses helped me realize that I didn't describe my own observation with the right words: I realized that the most important thing that stuck out to me the other week was how labored their flight looked that night. Normally they are a species that makes flight look so effortless and that night they looked like they were working really hard (fast, uninterrupted, deep wingbeats) to cover ground. 

Thanks again to those who shared their own stories. Definitely a fun species to watch!