Migrating Now – Common Nighthawk: Connecticut Audubon Bird Finder:

Common Nighthawk
Chordeiles minor

What it looks like: The Common Nighthawk is about 10 inches in size and can be observed most often while it is flying and only rarely while it is perched. Common Nighthawks have cryptic coloring, grayish with black and white mixed around the body. In flight they have long pointed wings with a white bar across the tips. The males have a white band near the tail tip. Their flight tends to be slow with deliberate wing beats.

Where to find it: The third week of August through the first week of September is the best time to observe Common Nighthawks in Connecticut as they are migrating south. River corridors, open fields, large bodies of water, and city lights throughout the state are good places to find migrating nighthawks. In recent days they’ve been seen on the wing in North Windham, at the Windham Airport; over the Farmington River in Farmington; and over the Hoydens Hill Open Space, in Fairfield, among many other places.

How to find it: Go out in the late afternoons and early evenings and look to the sky and you might spot several fly by. On good days you can see hundreds fly over. Usually they are observed in small groups of five to seven. Go to the Brooklyn or Woodstock Fair in the evening and look up near the spot lights, they are often seen feeding on insects around the large lights. Many large bodies of water such as Mansfield Hollow Dam offer a large viewing area as well as good insect hunting grounds.

What if the bird isn’t there: If you’re looking for Common Nighthawks at our Pomfret Center in the late afternoon, you can also usually see large flocks of Bobolinks flying around the goldenrod fields. Migrating Barn, Bank, and Rough-winged Swallows can be seen flying over the same areas you would find nighthawks. Look at the edges of the fields where the sun is still hitting the trees and you might find a small flock of migrating warblers and vireos.

Conservation Status: Even though they are considered still numerous, Common Nighthawks have been steadily declining (like all aerial insectivores, as we documented in our Connecticut State of the Birds 2013 report) and no longer nest in Connecticut. In fact, it has been years since a confirmed nest has been found in the state. Although the 2014 nesting season is over, If you have information about a potential nesting we would like to know. Common Nighthawks nest on bare ground usually with gravel surfaces, and also nest on flat roofs with gravel tops in towns. Most of the birds we see are migrants from up north.

This week’s Connecticut Audubon Society Bird Finder was written by Andy Rzeznikiewicz, land manager at our Center at Pomfret and at Trail Wood, in Hampton. It was edited by Tom Andersen.

Photo by Charlie Westerinen, CarolinaBirds.org