Birds · Caprimulgiformes · Caprimulgidae
Common Nighthawk
Chordeiles minor
The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk. See full glossary
A medium-sized nightjar, crepuscular or nocturnal, whose presence and identity are revealed above all by its voice. Long black wings with a very visible white bar in flight, and plumage mottled brown, grey and white on the upperparts and breast.
Weight
79 g on average
Size
22 cm – 24 cm
Lifespan
5 years
Diet
Insectivore
Feeds mainly on insects and other invertebrates.
Activity
Nocturnal
Active mainly at night.
Social structure
Solitary
Lives and hunts alone, joining others only to breed.
Sighting difficulty
Easy
Estimated population
Some 400,000 breeding adults in Canada alone; the North American population has lost around 58% of its numbers since 1970
Fun facts
- Its genus name, Chordeiles, comes from the Greek khoreia, dance with music, and deile, evening: literally "the dance of the evening", after its erratic flight at dusk.
- Until the early nineteenth century the nighthawk and the whip-poor-will were thought to be the same species, and the latter's song was explained as the night-time expression of the former; it was Alexander Wilson, the father of American ornithology, who correctly separated them.
- Nine subspecies are recognised.
Life cycle & biology
- Skeleton type
- Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bird)
- Habitat & environment
- A wide variety of open country across the Americas, including urban areas where it hunts under street lamps
- Size at birth
- Semi-precocial chicks, able to move into the shade within a few days; they start to fly at 18 days and complete their development between 45 and 52
- Sexual maturity
- 1 year
- Gestation / incubation
- 19 days
- Litter / clutch size
- 2
Sources consulted: IUCN Red List; Wikipedia (Common nighthawk); IOC World Bird List; Jobling 2010, The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names; Forster 1771
Where to find it
See its range on the interactive mapBest time: At twilight in summer, when it flies over open ground and towns hunting insects
Where to watch it
Parques y spots de buceo donde se ha documentado esta especie — se muestran 10 de 46 documentados.
Related species
Other species in the catalogue with the most in common with Common Nighthawk — same habitat, park, country, tags or family.
Southern Tamandua
Tamandua tetradactyla
Eastern Mole
Scalopus aquaticus
Big Brown Bat
Eptesicus fuscus
Least ConcernRed Fox
Vulpes vulpes
American Golden Plover
Pluvialis dominica
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