Common Nighthawk (Chordeiles minor)

OTHER NAMES: Bulbat
Latin Etymology: Chordeiles ("evening dance") minor ("small")

Adult Common Nighthawk (Chordeiles minor) at Fort Peck, Montana - July 2024

Featured Subspecies: Chordeiles minor hespersis
Weight: g/kg  /  Length: 22-25cm  /  Wingspan: 51-61cm
NO UK STATUS / IUCN Red List: Least Concern

A widespread bird of North and Central America, the Common Nighthawk is seemingly a much less secretive species than other caprimulgiformes I've encountered, hawking conspicuously overhead on several nights of our trip. In their hunting they behave like large swifts, hawking for insects over bodies of water, but unlike swifts will perch up on a branch periodically with their cryptic coloration to camoflage them.

Related Species:
Order: Caprimulgiformes
Family: Caprimulgidae
Genus: Chordeiles
SUBSPECIES: C. m. panamensis, C. m. neotropicalis, C. m. howelli, C. m. hespersis, C. m. aserriensis, C. m. chapmani, C. m. sennetti, C. m. henryi, C. m. minor

 - Sighting Locations -

CANADA - Widely distributed Summer migrant.
  - CHICAGO TO ALASKA ROADTRIP 2024: - Seen at Writing-on-Stone

UNITED STATES - Widely distributed Summer migrant.

 - CHICAGO TO ALASKA ROADTRIP 2024: : Seen at Fort Peck

 Further Notes: BirdForum Opus, IUCN Red List, RSPB, Wikipedia, Xeno-canto