Common Nighthawk

Chordeiles minorOrder: CAPRIMULGIFORMESFamily: Nighthawks and Nightjars (Caprimulgidae)

General

Common Nighthawk: Medium-sized, lanky nightjar with white-speckled, dark upperparts, black-and-white barred underparts, mottled breast, and white throat. Wings are long and dark gray with white bars, nearly covering tail when folded. Female and juvenile have gray throat patch.

Range and Habitat

Common Nighthawk: Breeds throughout the U.S. Winters are spent in South America. Well-adapted to urban life: flat-topped gravel roofs provide nesting habitat and lighting systems around buildings serve as foraging areas for insects.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"peeant", "beant"

Interesting Facts

The Common Nighthawk’s folk name is “goatsucker." This refers to the myth that this bird, with its large mouth, actually suckled goats.
Analyses of stomach contents have revealed a single bird eating upwards of 500 mosquitoes in a single day.
In the Southern United States, it is sometimes mistaken for a bat when spotted flying erratically at dusk.
A group of nighthawks are collectively known as a "kettle" of nighthawks.

Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Common Nighthawk

Common Nighthawk: Medium nightjar with white-speckled, dark upperparts, black-and-white barred underparts, mottled breast, white throat. Wings are long, dark gray with white bars, nearly covering tail when folded. Gray-brown legs and feet. Darting erratic flight with frequent changes of direction.

● Song: "peeant", "beant"

● Foraging & Feeding: Common Nighthawk: Feeds on mosquitoes, flying ants, moths, beetles, and other insects. Forages day or night on the wing, up to 600 feet above the ground, with its enormous mouth surrounded by bristles ideally suited for aerial capture; alternates slow, full wing beats with bursts of quick shallow beats while hunting. Sometimes feeds on insects attracted to lights. Drinks in flight, skimming the water surface with lower mandible.

● Breeding & nesting: Common Nighthawk: Lays two white to pale olive buff eggs, spotted with brown and gray, in a small ground depression or, in cities, on flat gravel rooftops. Female incubates eggs for approximately 19 days. Young are semi-precocial and start to fly at around 23 days.

● Similar species: Common Nighthawk: Antillean Nighthawk is slightly smaller and shorter-winged, but is chiefly distinguished by its rapid multi-syllabic calls. Lesser Nighthawk has white band on wing nearer wingtips, with primaries above the band showing buff spots.

Flight Pattern

Slow steady wing beats., Darting flight on long pointed wings with erratic twists and turns and changes of direction.

● Range & Habitat: Common Nighthawk: Breeds throughout the U.S. Winters are spent in South America. Well-adapted to urban life: flat-topped gravel roofs provide nesting habitat and lighting systems around buildings serve as foraging areas for insects.

^BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester

^PopulationDeclining slightly

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight2.2 Ounces

Field Guide to Birds of North America