I’m looking over a small prairie in the center of Fair Meadows. It’s August 25, about 6:30 in the evening, and as I often do, I’m watching Barn Swallows and a few Tree Swallows hunting in the last hour before sunset, scheduled today for 7:41 pm. Notably different from the usual aerial display is the addition of many dragonflies. Earlier today, Gary had noticed hundreds of green darners over the prairies while he was mowing the prairie lanes, and now they are darting among the swallows, sharing the feast.
Then I noticed that there was another layer of hunters over the meadow. Above the swallows and dragonflies, about 100 to 200 feet above the prairie, I observed about 60 birds flapping, gliding, then changing directions suddenly. Their wings were longer and pointed, with white patches—Common Nighthawks! I wondered if they were feeding on the dragonflies, but after watching carefully, I could see that they were not. Fortunately, Gary got several photos showing the capture of smaller prey, but no dragonflies. It was an amazing display and all in silence. None of the familiar buzzy beeps that nighthawks make earlier in the summer.
A Common Nighthawk catches an insect while hunting over Fair Meadows Sanctuary SNA in August 2023 (photo by Gary Shackelford).
In the photo, you can also appreciate the tiny beak of the nighthawk with its large, gaping mouth. According to the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, “although nighthawks forage in low light, they seem to locate prey by sight, possibly with the help of a structure in their eyes that reflects light back to the retina to improve their night vision.”
Slowly, over about thirty minutes, the feeding flock drifted to the south over another prairie and then over the woods and out of sight. They were on the way to southern South America, one of the longest migration routes of our birds.
A Common Nighthawk perched on a branch at Fair Meadows (photo by Gary Shackelford).
We have seen this display of Common Nighthawks in migration one other time, on September 1, 2004. We were looking over the same small prairie and at that time decided to name it Nighthawk Meadow!
We occasionally see solitary nighthawks feeding in the evenings at Fair Meadows, and we once spotted one roosting on a branch during the day, but we have never found a nest. The eggs are laid directly on the ground in open areas of the woods or on gravel beaches. Though we don’t have any beaches, I’m going to keep looking.
Written by Penny Shackelford, Fair Meadows Sanctuary resident manager
Cover image by Gary Shackelford. A Common Nighthawk with sharp gray wings displaying a white patch, flies through a blue sky while insects buzz about at Fair Meadows Sanctuary SNA in August 2023.
