Common Nighthawk
Common Nighthawk: Medium nightjar with white-speckled, dark upperparts, black-and-white barred underparts, mottled breast, white throat. Wings are long, dark gray with white bars, nearly covering tail when folded. Gray-brown legs and feet. Darting erratic flight with frequent changes of direction.
● Song:
"peeant", "beant"
● Foraging & Feeding:
Common Nighthawk: Feeds on mosquitoes, flying ants, moths, beetles, and other insects. Forages day or night on the wing, up to 600 feet above the ground, with its enormous mouth surrounded by bristles ideally suited for aerial capture; alternates slow, full wing beats with bursts of quick shallow beats while hunting. Sometimes feeds on insects attracted to lights. Drinks in flight, skimming the water surface with lower mandible.
● Breeding & nesting:
Common Nighthawk: Lays two white to pale olive buff eggs, spotted with brown and gray, in a small ground depression or, in cities, on flat gravel rooftops. Female incubates eggs for approximately 19 days. Young are semi-precocial and start to fly at around 23 days.
● Similar species:
Common Nighthawk: Antillean Nighthawk is slightly smaller and shorter-winged, but is chiefly distinguished by its rapid multi-syllabic calls. Lesser Nighthawk has white band on wing nearer wingtips, with primaries above the band showing buff spots.