Bird ID

[DTro]

Sorry no pics.

The other night on the river at dusk I saw wings fluttering which most time means the bats have moved out and chowing down. But a few of them looked huge.

They were birds, but none I've seen before. They were the size and shape of a small tern. Dark colored with one light colored strip on the underside of each wing about a quarter of the way from the tips. They were dippin and divin eating the bugs in the area.

Any ideas?

[Dotch]

Sounds like common nighthawks. Having not seen them can't say for 100% sure but don't know what else it would be. Here's a pic and HSOforum showing the light colored patch you described:

http://www.enature.com/flashcard/show_flash_card.asp?recordNumber=bd0143

[Greybeard53]

dtro,

Sounds like they were probably nighthawks.

They have pointy wings, so their shape is almost falcon like. They have a white patch on the bottom sides of their wings. They have huge mouths and swoop around almost like a bat to catch bugs.

Grey

[Dbl]

I saw the same thing this past weekend, I had know idea what they were either.

[DTro]

Quote:

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Sounds like common nighthawks. Having not seen them can't say for 100% sure but don't know what else it would be. Here's a pic and

HSOforum

showing the light colored patch you described:

http://www.enature.com/flashcard/show_flash_card.asp?recordNumber=bd0143

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We got a bingo!

Thanks, it's strange that I hadn't seen them before as I'm on the river at night a few times a week.

[Steve Foss]

That is strange, dtro. Nighthawks are pretty numerous, and they typically come out and do their swoop-and-dive after insects well before full dark. Of course it IS hard to pay attention to the sky when it's your fishing rod that's the focus.

[Dotch]

I wouldn't feel too bad dtro about not noticing the nighthawks before. Heck, there are oodles of warblers that have probably been in our back yard over the years but until we did our house addition, there was no view from which to see them. Nighthawks are part of the skyline before and at dusk in local Bugtussle, cruising above the towering two-story buildings and giving off that almost electric sounding 'peent' call. At first glance, the white patches on the underside of their wings almost look like holes. Same family as whip-poor-wills, overwinter in South America.