Year of the Nighthawk—in my yard too

[M.Bernat]

2026 is COS’s Year of the Nighthawk. 

Thanks to Richard’s emails to IBET, I passed his nighthawk migration word to a friend who passed the word to another friend. The first friend, a native plant gardener, whiffed on the migration but heard a blackburnian warbler in her neighbor’s walnut tree. When your yard goes native, birds happen. Even next door.

I later entered my driveway at 8:10pm, wearing all black. 2 nighthawks were low over my house, hunting and interacting with each other. You know. 

For many years I’ve heard at least one nighthawk circle my neighborhood all summer. After this rainy spring, there’s little doubt there is already plenty of food for these insectivorous birds over my bird-friendly landscape: skeeters viciously attacked me—en masse—in my fashionably dark attire and native moths hitched a ride indoors. Living proof I’m supporting nightjars in a modest way. And they’re back in my ‘hood. 

Last weekend at Sagawau Environmental Learning Center (my BCN monitoring site), I caught COS president Edward Warden’s presentation on nightjars, the mystery-laden common nighthawk and The Chicago Nighthawk Project. COS has presentations scheduled all year. You can also encourage your group to see if Edward can present at a meeting. Highly recommended. 

Mary Bernat

South Cook County

BCN survey monitor 

MOON survey monitor (the N is for nightjars)