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| Common Nighthawk seated. |
The nighthawk has been known by many names. In the south it has been called a bull bat because its habit of flying at dusk is combined with its diving toward the earth from great heights; as it dives it makes a sound like a bull roarer. Early American settlers called it the goatsucker because of its resemblance to an English bird of that name. The name goatsucker arose from the superstition that these birds milked goats; a story that probably arose from the birds' habit of flying around animals to catch flies and other insects. The name goatsucker is often applied to the family of which the nighthawk is a member. All of this family have soft plumage and fly noiselessly at dusk or at night. The coloration renders them difficult to distinguish when at rest. None of the goatsuckers build nests and their eggs are colored so as to be indistinguishable from the ground.
Nighthawks are one of the last of the migrating birds to return to the Chicago region in spring. They winter in Central and South America, sometimes going as far south as Patagonia. Each spring they find their way back over thousands of miles; a bird will return not only to the same state in which it was raised but to the same city and even to the same rooftop.
Nighthawks choose solitary open sites and rarely nest close to each other. Rock ledges, gravel beaches, burnt-over areas and barren patches in open woods or fields were once the common location of the nests but in recent years nighthawks have found better locations. On the tops of tall buildings with flat gravel roofs, where it is safe from predatory animals, the nighthawk now prefers to raise its young. Even in rural areas it usually chooses a rooftop for its nest.
There are commonly two eggs in each clutch. The female incubates the eggs and broods the young until they are able to fly. Not only must the eggs be protected from the cold but from the intense heat and the glaring sun that beats relentlessly down on unprotected nesting sites. Sometimes the temperature will rise to 130 degrees on the unshaded bird and she will sit with her beak open panting for air; but still she remains over the eggs, to shade them. Sometimes they become stuck in the melting tar and are baked. The young when hatched are covered with soft down and look somewhat like tiny chicks. They are soon able to run about but will "freeze" when strangers are near. Then they take short flights from their own rooftop and as they grow older they make longer and longer excursions until it is time for the fall migration.
In the autumn the birds gather in huge flocks and leisurely make their way southward. The whirling masses of birds flying over the lakes and fields are a notable sight.
The birds are expert flyers and sweep the air clean of insects in their vicinity. Their large mouths act as insect nets. Usually gnats, flying ants and beetles comprise most of the food, although in farm regions the birds consume numbers of grasshoppers. They also eat mosquitoes, and thus especially deserve our protection.
Nighthawks are one of the last of the migrating birds to return to the Chicago region in spring. They winter in Central and South America, sometimes going as far south as Patagonia. Each spring they find their way back over thousands of miles; a bird will return not only to the same state in which it was raised but to the same city and even to the same rooftop.
Nighthawks choose solitary open sites and rarely nest close to each other. Rock ledges, gravel beaches, burnt-over areas and barren patches in open woods or fields were once the common location of the nests but in recent years nighthawks have found better locations. On the tops of tall buildings with flat gravel roofs, where it is safe from predatory animals, the nighthawk now prefers to raise its young. Even in rural areas it usually chooses a rooftop for its nest.
There are commonly two eggs in each clutch. The female incubates the eggs and broods the young until they are able to fly. Not only must the eggs be protected from the cold but from the intense heat and the glaring sun that beats relentlessly down on unprotected nesting sites. Sometimes the temperature will rise to 130 degrees on the unshaded bird and she will sit with her beak open panting for air; but still she remains over the eggs, to shade them. Sometimes they become stuck in the melting tar and are baked. The young when hatched are covered with soft down and look somewhat like tiny chicks. They are soon able to run about but will "freeze" when strangers are near. Then they take short flights from their own rooftop and as they grow older they make longer and longer excursions until it is time for the fall migration.
In the autumn the birds gather in huge flocks and leisurely make their way southward. The whirling masses of birds flying over the lakes and fields are a notable sight.
The birds are expert flyers and sweep the air clean of insects in their vicinity. Their large mouths act as insect nets. Usually gnats, flying ants and beetles comprise most of the food, although in farm regions the birds consume numbers of grasshoppers. They also eat mosquitoes, and thus especially deserve our protection.
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