The common nighthawk is what started my love for birds. For years, I thought their sound was bats. When I began to learn about birding and used an app to identify it, I knew they were not so common. I felt so lucky to live in an area where I have heard them for so long. I got to see one up close as it rapidly flew past me. I felt such a strong emotion when I saw those beautiful wings and their white band. I love them so much and can't wait to see them again in the summer.
I live on a reservation in South Dakota. My husband is Native and when he was a boy, his name was "Pisko Hoksila" (Nighthawk Boy). He told me a long time ago that the nighthawk is the actual Thunderbird because you always see it just before a storm, and it has lightning in its wings. Every year, I wait for them to come. It's one of the very, very few parts of Summer that I like. It's September now, and they have left for the year, but I will be so happy to see and hear them again all around my house when they come back in the Spring to remind me that my husband, who is now in the Spirit World, is still here watching over us.
I was so lucky; I saw a little juvenile by my work. If I wasn't used to looking for bird-camo, I would've thought he was a rock. He was just adorable and let me get close (but I gave him space! I just wanted to make sure he was okay as I didn't know what he was at first.) so I could see his cute little grumpy face. I got fantastic pictures of him and then a sibling appeared a few days afterwards! Now they fly with what I assume are their parents above the parking lot. Was a wonderful experience seeing such reclusive birds up so close. One of my favorites now!
This is the best video on the nighthawk that I have seen, thank you! I had to deep dive into what could POSSIBLY make a noise like a whale's blowhold (to me) in the woods as the sun was going down, following me a ways down the lane!! I was freaking out due to the haunting, ethereal nature of how nonspecific it is, was hard to tell a location. But now it is likely I was walking near a nest and a male was trying to frighten me off. He must have had a good laugh watching me run back to the house the first time LOL - now it is a treat, the rare times I hear them in the summer here in the Olympix!! such a beautiful bird.😊
*@All Things Birdie* A hundred Thank Yous for this excellent piece of Natural Science. There is more information on the various members of the nightjar family than is found in several animal encyclopedias put together. I had no idea there are so many variations. And being that the crepuscular ones are just as illusive as the nocturnal ones, I wouldve never made the connection between the bird & its call. For example, the lesser nightjar (I dont use the word nighthawk) I mistook for some unknown kind of owl calling into the night. The call of the eastern whippoorwill I mistook for a quail The only thing you left out is how these nightjars & whippoorwills are members of the same family as the swifts. I caught a chimney swift when I was 15, & theyve been my most favorite native bird ever since Best of success to you & your channel. Im very glad to be first commentor for your excellent video 💜
I see them every year near summers end. They swoop about in my southern New Hampshire field feeding on the big dragonfly's who have been feeding on the smaller dragonfly's and after a half hour or so they disappear as quickly as they've come. This year they stayed longer than years past. I understand I'm located in a flyway towards their migration route.
What an extraordinary unique bird !. And all the others similar😮such differences in songs !. Never heard of them before, they don't exist in EU. Thank you for the share 👍🙏
So- yes to your point these denizens are anything BUT common ! The last time I heard one brought back covered memories from over 45 years ago where my grandmother lived it stayed light at dusk very long we were both in bed falling asleep and it was like clockwork thier distinctive call she nor I knew what they were including maybe bats to the mix. FORTY FIVE years later I reported to work early was in an empty parking lot just before sunrise and I heard thier call!!! They are difficult to place because the Doppler effect places them far ahead of where they should be very fast fliers very high I spotted one way up - but no way even with binoculars I could identify it. Later in the day I remembered a friend who showed me the Merlin Bird App and the rest is history this morning I solved the mystery. But again - thanks for emphasizing they DO NOT hunt all night ( I was wrong thought they did ) and as such this morning I turned on the bird app and stuck it up high in the empty parking lot it was like magic !!!! But the moment didn't last long they were definitely on the move fading away then barely coming back into hearing range all told they were gone and bedded down in ten minutes max there's no way I could have done this without the Merlin Bird app based on vocalizing. Also - they're very individualistic in that you will not and cannot hear them during our Spring Chorus annually which is both rewarding and melancholic one in the same . ❤️❤️❤️🕊🕊🕊🕊🐥🐥🐥🐥🌍🌍🌎
Wonderful vid! A few years ago while walking my dogs I found a nighthawk dead alongside the road. The wings gave it away. I live in Michigan, and this is the only time I've seen what they look like.
Yes! Thanks for this. I discovered this bird last year while camping in the deep southwest US. After watching your video, I'm guessing it was doing the booming maneuver to scare me away from a nest or it's favorite hunting spot - but the sound was so alien and unique, I used an app listening for call and found it was a Lesser Nighthawk. I'm currently in the Pacific Northwest and each evening I watch a dozen or so Common Nighthawks dart around eating bugs and then resting in the dust on the side of the road before taking off again. Their wings are so big for their body, it's amazing! One of my favorite birds now and this was the first real educational video I've found and it was great!
We have nighthawks here in NE Washington. I've been hearing them every evening and wondering about the booming sound- which I finally realized was actually coming the same bird! It was great to hear how and why they make that sound. Thank you!!
Im so excited to learn about these fabulous birds. I thought the glowing eyes thing was a myth- thanks for explaining the science. I love their mysterious calls as well.
Me and some friends ride adventure motorcycles. One of these poor little guys swooped down and smacked into my buddies helmet at around 25mph. It was hurt badly but still managed to fly away. Poor guy
Great video, I have quite a few of them, I live on a small lake just outside of Victoria BC and thought they were bats at first but definitely see them a lot at dusk feeding on insects. I feel fortunate that I have them around as so many other commenters seem to feel that they are not present in their areas anymore.
Lesser nighthawk sounds like a Western screech owl…I’ve heard that call in the thick oak forests Santa Cruz Mountains of California but I’m sure it was an owl
Lovely video- thnx. FYI "common nighthawk" used to be common, something youd hear at dusk just about everywhere at least here in Midwest, even in quite urban areas. Like whippoorwill, went into rather sudden decline about 20-25 yrs ago for many of the same reasons.
They are common where I live in central Oregon and I usually see them in the evening and before dawn. I've seen flocks of hundreds of them eating flying termites during a hatch.
I don't think I have seen one yet, and I know I don't have any pictures of one. I have added this to the birds I need list so hopefully I will be able to find some.
The roar is amazing. Do they exist in coastal Southern California such as in Orange County? I've seen them in the Rockies, but not in California. We see shallows hunting insects at dusk around lights in California.
I was surprised when I saw a strange bird (for me) at night in the forest close to Barcelona (Spain). I took a picture and some days later thanks to an AI tool I identify the bird: a Nighthawk. I'm 64 and is the first time I see this kind of bird here.
The eastern whiperwill has almost disappeared from eastern Tennessee I heard only 1 this spring and summer.Just a few yrs ago there were hundreds around.
@@celowski6296 I wonder what has happened to them?Anytime a species disappears it's not a good sign for our environment.Bobwhite quail has also disappeard completely.How is the ruffed grouse population in northern Michigan?
Outdoor cats have decimated bird populations, as have plastics, pesticides, and habitat loss. But outdoor cats are the biggest culprit. When I was a kid in the 60s and 70s, outdoor cats were killed by coyotes and eagles and hawks, and people kept them inside. There just weren't as many cats running around outside.
Great video! If folks would like to learn more about nighthawks, check out my book The Nighthawk’s Evening. I studied them in grad school and traveled around North America to find them. ❤
We have a moonlight tower across the street from our home. We get a nighthawk pretty much every night, sometimes two or three! Are these birds social or territorial? Sometimes it looks like they're attacking each other, though I've never seen them make contact so they're probably just going for the same grub 🦟
![[English subs] Yodaka No Hoshi (The Nighthawk Star) animation - Miyazawa Kenji](/img/n.gif)
The common nighthawk is what started my love for birds. For years, I thought their sound was bats. When I began to learn about birding and used an app to identify it, I knew they were not so common. I felt so lucky to live in an area where I have heard them for so long. I got to see one up close as it rapidly flew past me. I felt such a strong emotion when I saw those beautiful wings and their white band. I love them so much and can't wait to see them again in the summer.
I live on a reservation in South Dakota. My husband is Native and when he was a boy, his name was "Pisko Hoksila" (Nighthawk Boy). He told me a long time ago that the nighthawk is the actual Thunderbird because you always see it just before a storm, and it has lightning in its wings. Every year, I wait for them to come. It's one of the very, very few parts of Summer that I like. It's September now, and they have left for the year, but I will be so happy to see and hear them again all around my house when they come back in the Spring to remind me that my husband, who is now in the Spirit World, is still here watching over us.
That's very touching... thank you for sharing.
I was so lucky; I saw a little juvenile by my work. If I wasn't used to looking for bird-camo, I would've thought he was a rock. He was just adorable and let me get close (but I gave him space! I just wanted to make sure he was okay as I didn't know what he was at first.) so I could see his cute little grumpy face.
I got fantastic pictures of him and then a sibling appeared a few days afterwards! Now they fly with what I assume are their parents above the parking lot. Was a wonderful experience seeing such reclusive birds up so close. One of my favorites now!
Where I live in the open rangelands of New Mexico, the nighthawks fly around calling my name, "Pete!"
9:58 Bird sounds like a spaceship with a futuristic gunner on it. Pretty amazing.
This is the best video on the nighthawk that I have seen, thank you! I had to deep dive into what could POSSIBLY make a noise like a whale's blowhold (to me) in the woods as the sun was going down, following me a ways down the lane!! I was freaking out due to the haunting, ethereal nature of how nonspecific it is, was hard to tell a location. But now it is likely I was walking near a nest and a male was trying to frighten me off. He must have had a good laugh watching me run back to the house the first time LOL - now it is a treat, the rare times I hear them in the summer here in the Olympix!! such a beautiful bird.😊
*@All Things Birdie* A hundred Thank Yous for this excellent piece of Natural Science. There is more information on the various members of the nightjar family than is found in several animal encyclopedias put together. I had no idea there are so many variations. And being that the crepuscular ones are just as illusive as the nocturnal ones, I wouldve never made the connection between the bird & its call. For example, the lesser nightjar (I dont use the word nighthawk) I mistook for some unknown kind of owl calling into the night. The call of the eastern whippoorwill I mistook for a quail
The only thing you left out is how these nightjars & whippoorwills are members of the same family as the swifts. I caught a chimney swift when I was 15, & theyve been my most favorite native bird ever since
Best of success to you & your channel. Im very glad to be first commentor for your excellent video 💜
2:20 That bird is SO CUTE when it's sleeping! Those pictures of its eyes half open. 🤣
I just Binged watched your entire series. Liked and subscribed. Keep on keeping on. 😁😁❤❤
Thank you so much!
Your deep dive into the common nighthawk gave much more understanding of them.
I really like the information on tapetum lucidum.
I see them every year near summers end. They swoop about in my southern New Hampshire field feeding on the big dragonfly's who have been feeding on the smaller dragonfly's and after a half hour or so they disappear as quickly as they've come. This year they stayed longer than years past. I understand I'm located in a flyway towards their migration route.
I love how they almost always perch horizontally and have squinty eyes! They're so cute!
You can walk right up to them when they're sleeping. Love to watch nighthawks fly, Reminds me of falcons.
@PeteHemdem I can never find them--only hear them!
What an extraordinary unique bird !. And all the others similar😮such differences in songs !. Never heard of them before, they don't exist in EU. Thank you for the share 👍🙏
So- yes to your point these denizens are anything BUT common ! The last time I heard one brought back covered memories from over 45 years ago where my grandmother lived it stayed light at dusk very long we were both in bed falling asleep and it was like clockwork thier distinctive call she nor I knew what they were including maybe bats to the mix. FORTY FIVE years later I reported to work early was in an empty parking lot just before sunrise and I heard thier call!!! They are difficult to place because the Doppler effect places them far ahead of where they should be very fast fliers very high I spotted one way up - but no way even with binoculars I could identify it. Later in the day I remembered a friend who showed me the Merlin Bird App and the rest is history this morning I solved the mystery. But again - thanks for emphasizing they DO NOT hunt all night ( I was wrong thought they did ) and as such this morning I turned on the bird app and stuck it up high in the empty parking lot it was like magic !!!! But the moment didn't last long they were definitely on the move fading away then barely coming back into hearing range all told they were gone and bedded down in ten minutes max there's no way I could have done this without the Merlin Bird app based on vocalizing. Also - they're very individualistic in that you will not and cannot hear them during our Spring Chorus annually which is both rewarding and melancholic one in the same . ❤️❤️❤️🕊🕊🕊🕊🐥🐥🐥🐥🌍🌍🌎
Wonderful vid! A few years ago while walking my dogs I found a nighthawk dead alongside the road. The wings gave it away. I live in Michigan, and this is the only time I've seen what they look like.
Yes! Thanks for this. I discovered this bird last year while camping in the deep southwest US. After watching your video, I'm guessing it was doing the booming maneuver to scare me away from a nest or it's favorite hunting spot - but the sound was so alien and unique, I used an app listening for call and found it was a Lesser Nighthawk.
I'm currently in the Pacific Northwest and each evening I watch a dozen or so Common Nighthawks dart around eating bugs and then resting in the dust on the side of the road before taking off again. Their wings are so big for their body, it's amazing! One of my favorite birds now and this was the first real educational video I've found and it was great!
They are one of my favorites as well! They such neat birds. Glad the video was helpful!
We have nighthawks here in NE Washington. I've been hearing them every evening and wondering about the booming sound- which I finally realized was actually coming the same bird! It was great to hear how and why they make that sound. Thank you!!
Im so excited to learn about these fabulous birds. I thought the glowing eyes thing was a myth- thanks for explaining the science. I love their mysterious calls as well.
Me and some friends ride adventure motorcycles. One of these poor little guys swooped down and smacked into my buddies helmet at around 25mph. It was hurt badly but still managed to fly away. Poor guy
Great video, I have quite a few of them, I live on a small lake just outside of Victoria BC and thought they were bats at first but definitely see them a lot at dusk feeding on insects. I feel fortunate that I have them around as so many other commenters seem to feel that they are not present in their areas anymore.
Lesser nighthawk sounds like a Western screech owl…I’ve heard that call in the thick oak forests Santa Cruz Mountains of California but I’m sure it was an owl
They seem to appreciate being waved at when they’re flying around in the evening.
We frequently see them here on the north coast of the Olympic Peninsula of WA State (Sequim).
Lovely video- thnx. FYI "common nighthawk" used to be common, something youd hear at dusk just about everywhere at least here in Midwest, even in quite urban areas. Like whippoorwill, went into rather sudden decline about 20-25 yrs ago for many of the same reasons.
Last week there were dozens of them flying here and there all over a field down the road at sundown. I didn’t know what they were at first.
I have one nesting in my back yard on a pillow. I’m in Colorado Springs and shocked that this bird would nest on a bright blue pillow in the open
I used to hear the common night hawks and the Whippoor wills 50 years ago. They don't hear them around much anymore.
Thank you for recording and posting this valuable educational video.
They are common where I live in central Oregon and I usually see them in the evening and before dawn. I've seen flocks of hundreds of them eating flying termites during a hatch.
That's gotta be great! I love them, but unfortunately haven't seen one in a couple years.
I don't think I have seen one yet, and I know I don't have any pictures of one. I have added this to the birds I need list so hopefully I will be able to find some.
The roar is amazing. Do they exist in coastal Southern California such as in Orange County? I've seen them in the Rockies, but not in California. We see shallows hunting insects at dusk around lights in California.
Thank you for making this video! It was very informative and thorough. You answered all my questions about them 😊
Yes they are here but not as many as they used to be
Very good presentation
❤ great information about these birds 🐦we have a few different species hear in south texas
Fantastic video!
I was surprised when I saw a strange bird (for me) at night in the forest close to Barcelona (Spain). I took a picture and some days later thanks to an AI tool I identify the bird: a Nighthawk. I'm 64 and is the first time I see this kind of bird here.
Loved watching them hunt
Dankeschön für euren Beitrag.
I enjoy the lesser nighthawks near my home.
Now I know who's doing that trilling hereabout.
Could also be a western screech owl.
The eastern whiperwill has almost disappeared from eastern Tennessee I heard only 1 this spring and summer.Just a few yrs ago there were hundreds around.
Here too in northern Michigan. Years ago they were all over. Now if we hear one or two we are lucky.
@@celowski6296 I wonder what has happened to them?Anytime a species disappears it's not a good sign for our environment.Bobwhite quail has also disappeard completely.How is the ruffed grouse population in northern Michigan?
Same here i hope they make a come back soon.
So have cardinals. It's hard to take in the fact that the world has lost 1/4 of all birds since 1970! Mainly due to outdoor cats and habitat loss.
Outdoor cats have decimated bird populations, as have plastics, pesticides, and habitat loss. But outdoor cats are the biggest culprit.
When I was a kid in the 60s and 70s, outdoor cats were killed by coyotes and eagles and hawks, and people kept them inside. There just weren't as many cats running around outside.
Great job! I thought whipoorwill but it is chucks will widow
I watched this on Stream with my friends ! (I was forced to,, but I loved the video hahaha ;3c)
Awwww look at them lil feetsies
Sounds like a booming fart. 😂 I’ve never seen one. Hope to someday. Thanks for the info. ❤
Thanks for the info just found a young one this morning I fed it hamburger but will feed it bugs from my zapper
The city is expanding
This beautiful bird is shown as part of GODS wisdom,and grace.The bird resembles the whip er will .Thank you so much for this video.
I had one in my yard today in Northwest Ohio
I actually have one I rescued him as a baby almost 2 yrs old
밤매 , rare bird
I just took my first video of a common night hawk
Great video! If folks would like to learn more about nighthawks, check out my book The Nighthawk’s Evening. I studied them in grad school and traveled around North America to find them. ❤
Night halk nighttime calls
We have a moonlight tower across the street from our home. We get a nighthawk pretty much every night, sometimes two or three! Are these birds social or territorial? Sometimes it looks like they're attacking each other, though I've never seen them make contact so they're probably just going for the same grub 🦟