Common Nighthawk

Chordeiles minor

eBird describes the Common Nighthawk like this:  Camouflaged to blend into daytime roosts. Intricately patterned with gray and brown. Often roosts along tree branches or on the ground. Feeds at night on large insects. Watch for them flying under bright lights at ballgames or supermarkets. Distinctive fluttering flight style, with wings usually held in a V-shape between bursts of flaps and maneuvers to snatch insects. Very similar to Lesser and Antillean Nighthawks; note voice and location of white wing patch close to base of primaries.  The website All About Birds offers this descriptive information for the Common Nighthawk:  On warm summer evenings, Common Nighthawks roam the skies over treetops, grasslands, and cities. Their sharp, electric peent call is often the first clue they’re overhead. In the dim half-light, these long-winged birds fly in graceful loops, flashing white patches out past the bend of each wing as they chase insects. These fairly common but declining birds make no nest. Their young are so well camouflaged that they’re hard to find, and even the adults seem to vanish as soon as they land.

I saw and photographed my first Common Nighthawk on the morning of Saturday, May 4, 2024.  I was headed into New Braunfels using the backroads, and, as I traveled on Youngsford Road, I spotted the silhouette of a bird in a tree next to one of the small farmhouses.  I could tell the way the bird was perched on the limb that it was something I had not seen before.  Sure enough, it was  a Common Nighthawk, peacefully sleeping on a limb.  I took several photos, and, once I got home looked the bird up in my Sibley’s and found that it was a Common Nighthawk.  I plan to check this tree occasionally in the future to see if the bird uses it as a regular roost.  Anyway, I was delighted to meet this bird and add it to my life list!