Image by Scott Wright (Trademarked)

Studying the migration of the Common Nighthawk

Co-ordinated by the Jacks' Mt. Hawkwatch. A HMANA Hawkwatch in Mifflin Co. Pennsylvania.

PROJECT NIGHTHAWK IS NO LONGER COLLECTING DATA SHEETS. This webpage is a summary of the project that was conducted to see if it was possible to monitor the late summer migration on the Common Nighthawk. In the late summer of 1999, volunteers in 13 states in the U.S.A. conducted an experiment. The purpose was to attempt to monitor the migration of the Common Nighthawk (Chordeiles minor). It is suspected that the population of the Common Nighthawk might be in decline. Thus, a method to count the birds in migration might be a useful tool to evaluate the health of the species.

The purpose of Project Nighthawk was to simply get some people out in the evenings and see how many nighthawks could be counted migrating in the last two hours of daylight every evening during the expected peak of nighthawk migration. Most watchsites counted at least some nighthawks during the time period. Some watchsites had large numbers of nighthawks. Based on the number of birds counted it appears at this time that it is possible to monitor the nighthawks in this manner. Project Nighthawk will continue next fall. Participation is voluntary and you are welcome to start a watchsite in your location. We now have 6 years worth of data and I believe we can start to see a pattern in the timing of the migration of the Common Nighthawk.

In the 6 years of the study over 90 % of the Nighthawks that were counted migrated between August 17th and Sept 5th. In 1999 the biggest counts occurred on the 22nd and 23rd of August. There was also a heavy migration between August 26th and August 30th. The pattern in 2000 was very similar with the time period of August 21 to September 3 having the largest movement of Common Nighthawks. For 2005 we are asking our counters to try to especially cover the time frame of August 17 to September 5. Try to watch every evening that is possible. The last 2 hours of the evening, before dark seem to be the best time to watch. Watchsites that have a source of water close by appear to attract more Nighthawks. If you can watch close to a lake or pond or river it may improve your chances of seeing large groups of migrating Common Nighthawks.

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