Island Nature

Featuring Vancouver Island nature and landscape photography by Dave Ingram

Backyard Birds, Bird Watching, Birds

Common Nighthawks Put on Twilight Display

Dave Ingram

On certain warm, summer nights in Courtenay on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Common Nighthawks (Chordeiles minor) put on a complicated and beautiful display that surpasses that of the annual Snowbird performance at CFB Comox.

Courtenay Sky
A warm clear night with a bit of a cloud bank building – the Common Nighthawks and Black Swifts put on a show against this backdrop.

Last Sunday evening Common Nighthawks were out in numbers, and birders were reporting them feeding over urban areas in both Parksville and Nanaimo. These larger insectivores were joined by whole squadrons of Black Swifts (Cypseloides niger) over downtown Courtenay.

Common Nighthawks (Chordeiles minor)
The Common Nighthawk (Chordeiles minor) – the dramatic flashes on the wings, aerial acrobatics,  and the distinctive call make this one of my favourite birds of the summer.
Black Swift (Cypseloides niger)
Black Swifts (Cypseloides niger) definitely outnumbered the larger Common Nighthawks. They were pretty hard to photograph and, like the name suggests, very swift fliers!

I spent close to an hour watching both of these species while out watering the garden. I tried to get some photographs, but it was pretty challenging since they were moving so quickly and the angle of the light was poor. I ended up shooting at 1250 ISO, so the quality isn’t great, but you can get an idea of what they look like from the ground.

Common Nighthawks are becoming less common. They’re listed as Threatened by SARA and Yellow listed by the BC Conservation Data Centre – population numbers have dropped dramatically with a possible correlation to a corresponding drop in the insects on which they feed.

I love hearing the nasal “Peeent” of the Common Nighthawk in the early evening and it would be tragic if the population continues to decline. It’s one of my favourite sounds of summer, and I hope that I’ll be able to see and hear them for years to come.

Further Reading:

If you’re interested in reading more about the Common Nighthawk, check out Rob Butler’s article The Not-So-Common Nighthawk. The Hipster Birders also have some amazing close-up photographs of this very cool bird. Check out their post at Featured Feathered Friend: Common Nighthawk. Alex over at The Nemesis Bird has some stunning images of this bird in flight (much better than mine!) in his post Common Nighthawk – Photo Study.

13 thoughts on “Common Nighthawks Put on Twilight Display”

  1. Thanks for the mention of the Hipster Birders. I do love hearing that nasal sound, too! Great flight shot of the common nighthawk. I really enjoy watching them fly around with those long, sharp wings!

  2. Last evening in sidney BC, we had a show of about 9-12 nighthawks flying above us catching the late evening sun. I have never seen them and it was a real treat!

  3. We’ve had a large group overhead two nights ago but they’re somewhat sporadic. Nice that you were able to see (and hopefully hear them)!

  4. I live in Chemainus…one evening a week or a bit ago ..the sky was full..it was awesome, so many nighthawks. It has been years since I used to watch them as a child all summer….. I was so impressed but the neighborhood didn’t seem to notice LOL..I haven’t seen them since :(.. will I see them again? I have missed their antics and sounds…

  5. They’ve been making appearances off and on over downtown Courtenay this year – think that it might be related to weather conditions/insect hatches. Keep an eye out for swifts mixed in with them. Thanks for stopping in!

  6. I live near downtown Ladysmith and recently moved from the Yellow Point area. When I was a kid in Oliver BC I greatly enjoyed listening to and watching the graceful Nighthawk as it fed over our house in the country, north of town. Being an aviation enthusiast at the time, I was always thrilled at the whooshing sound they made when pulling out of one of their characteristic dives. Climbing up the hill behind our house, sometimes I was treated to this behaviour at eye and ear level which was truly awe inspiring! When taking my degree at UBC, I do believe the Cannings brothers taught me the term “stooping” to describe this activity. However, I do not know what it is for and my real question is, “Why don’t they do it here on the coast?” Could it be they are stooping here, yet with the different humidity in the air the sound is not caused through their feathers? If anyone can let me know I would be most appreciative.

    I am sad to hear they are declining. It is also sad to see most people looking down at their phones and not to the skies…..

  7. Hi Don,

    Thanks for dropping in! I think that the stooping behaviour is tied to mating so perhaps the ones that we see here on the Island are moving through and less inclined to stoop while doing so. I did see a nice flock over Courtenay this weekend, they are amazing to watch!

  8. We live in Qualicum 10 min north of town on acreage and saw three of these birds soaring over us Sunday night. Have lived on Vancouver Island since 1986 and this is the first time we have ever seen them. Took a while to find out what they were on the internet, wow was a beautiful sight. Hope to see them again!

  9. They are quite beautiful, very graceful fliers and the call is so distinctive. Thanks for stopping in!

  10. Well it is 2015, and this is the first year we have heard of nighthawks at the Rockin Horse pub area, of Nanoose Bay. Beautiful to watch and hear.

  12. Saw lots of them tonight on the way home at dusk between Parksville and nanaimo over the highway. Possibly between 20 and 30. Beautiful.

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