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 is a common nighthawk, but its 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.
MIDFLIGHT MEALS
Seen up close, the nighthawk appears to have…