These creatures of contradiction aren’t hawks and aren’t the most active at night, but nighthawks are birds worth knowing
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Common Nighthawk Identification
As the sun nears the western horizon, you hear a buzzy call, pzzeent!, from overhead. Looking up, you see a bird about the size of a pigeon but with narrow, angular wings, sailing and fluttering in a bouncy, zigzag flight. Mostly brown, the bird is marked with a bold white slash across each pointed wingtip. This bird is a common nighthawk, but the name is misleading.
The bird is most active at dusk and dawn, not at night. It’s not a hawk—instead, it’s related to the whip-poor-will and other members of the nightjar family. And although it’s the most widespread of the three nighthawk species in North America, it isn’t always common. Read on to learn more about these fascinating fliers.
What Do Common Nighthawks Eat?
Seen up close, the nighthawk appears to have a tiny bill—until it opens up to reveal a wide, gaping mouth, perfect for scooping insects out of the air. That’s the purpose of the bird’s high, erratic flight, as it pursues moths, beetles and other bugs on the wing.
Nests and Eggs
When it isn’t flying, its camouflage makes the common nighthawk hard to spot. On a horizontal tree limb, it usually lies lengthwise along the branch, making it more inconspicuous. On the ground, it often rests on gravel patches, dead leaves or bare open soil. The ground is also its typical nesting site, where it lays two mottled brown eggs directly on the surface.
Common nighthawks have learned to nest on flat gravel roofs, as well, such as those on hospitals, schools or shopping malls, where they may be safer from predators than they would be on the ground. As a result, nighthawks are now regularly seen in the skies over cities.
Common Nighthawk Bird Sounds
Unlike its relative the whip-poor-will, the common nighthawk doesn’t have a loud nighttime song. Instead, it announces its claim to a nesting territory, and tries to attract a mate, with a remarkable aerial display. On certain evenings in late spring and early summer, a male will give his buzzy call rapidly, over and over, as he flutters high above the ground. Then he goes into a steep dive, and air rushing through his outer wing feathers produces a loud whooshing sound, often referred to as booming.
Common Nighthawk Range
Though common nighthawks are found across southern Canada and most of the lower 48 states in the summer, they spend the winter in South America, as far south as northern Argentina. Some of them may travel more than 7,000 miles between their summer and winter ranges.
Lesser Nighthawk: The Desert Dweller
In southwestern lowlands from central California to southern Texas, a related species takes over. The lesser nighthawk is slightly smaller than the common nighthawk and better adapted to dry conditions, thriving in the desert. Although it looks almost identical to the common nighthawk, the pale bar across its wing is closer to the wingtip, and on females this mark is buffy, not white.
Lesser nighthawks often fly lower than common nighthawks, coursing along close to the ground. Their voices are completely different: Instead of a sharp, nasal note, the lesser nighthawk delivers a low, mellow trill, and it doesn’t perform the “booming” flight display of its larger relative.
It also doesn’t migrate as far. The lesser nighthawks in the United States do leave for the winter, but there are resident populations in scattered areas from Mexico to South America.
Antillean Nighthawk: A Florida Specialty
Another bird, the Antillean nighthawk— which looks almost the same as the common nighthawk but sounds different—resides on the islands of the Caribbean. This cousin enters the United States only in spring and summer and only in extreme southern Florida, mainly on the lower Florida Keys. It announces its presence as it flies about in the evening, calling a rapid, rasping pitty-pit-pit!
For many years, the winter range of Antillean nighthawks was a mystery. They disappear from Florida and most Caribbean islands in the fall, but no one was sure where they went. New research shows that they go to South America. They were missed there in the past because they’re silent in winter, and they’re outnumbered by the look-alike common nighthawks.
Tropical Nighthawks
In addition to the three species of nighthawks in the United States, another seven can be found in Central and South America. These include:
- Sand-colored nighthawk: a pale brown bird that gathers in large flocks on sandbars in the Amazon River
- Short-tailed nighthawk: a very dark bird with batlike flight that flits around the edges of dense rainforests at dusk
- Nacunda nighthawk: a boldly patterned bird that’s larger than other nighthawks and common in open savanna country
How to Find Nighthawks
Common nighthawks are widespread in summer, but they are easy to overlook. To increase your chances of spotting one, watch the sky in the evening and listen for their nasal pzzeent call. Sometimes they’re easier to find in cities because of their habit of nesting on flat roofs. Common nighthawks start migrating south early, even before fall begins. In late August, you can spot them by scanning the sky in the evening, watching for flocks headed south.
To see lesser nighthawks in the southwest, head to wide-open desert or grassland at dawn or dusk in the summer, and be alert for their silent passage as they flit low over the ground. The Antillean nighthawk is more challenging to locate. On the lower Florida Keys in spring and summer, wait by an open area like an airport or field, and listen for this bird’s distinctive voice. It may take some effort to find them, but it’s worthwhile to make the acquaintance of these acrobatic aerial insect-eaters!
