Rather than wielding huge, lethal talons, a nighthawk has flat feet that are among the smallest and weakest, relative to its size, in the bird world. This article first appeared in the July/August 2005 issue of Birder’s World magazine.īut unlike their raptorial cousins, nighthawks have shied away from a grasping, seizing lifestyle. Indeed, the late Roxie Laybourne, the Smithsonian authority on bird feathers, once told me that under the microscope, nightjar feathers are almost identical to owl feathers. Denizens of the dark or, more accurately, of twilight, nighthawks are closely related to owls, with similarities in DNA and many morphological structures as well as plumage. The species’ characteristically erratic yet graceful flight is moth-like in purpose, as nighthawks swoop and dart through the sky in pursuit of lepidopterans and other insects. I watched them aim for and eat sizable moths and many tinier bugs - it was surprisingly easy to follow them with binoculars as they remained in the relatively small cone of illumination. A brisk wind made the heavy flag flap while the nighthawks moved up and down and in and around, managing to catch hundreds of insects while ever eluding the erratically moving fabric. Another night I spent many hours watching a pair hawking for insects in the glow of a light illuminating the oversized American flag at a Perkins restaurant. The more I watched and read about nighthawks, the more fascinated with them I became. It wasn’t until the next day, at the university library, that I learned about the male’s “booming display.” That augh! wasn’t a scream at all - it was produced by air rushing through his primary wing feathers after a sudden downward flexing of his wings during what was apparently a courtship dive. Both times he abruptly seemed to come to himself, as if realizing he was about to hit asphalt, and screamed out augh! as he pulled out at the last moment. Twice as I watched, a male nighthawk had suddenly plummeted out of the sky at breakneck speed straight for the pavement.
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