Project Nighthawk

Common Nighthawk female with two chicks by Pam Hunt, 7/3/08, Concord, NH.

Project Nighthawk is a statewide initiative, coordinated by NH Audubon, aimed at understanding and conserving the state-endangered Common Nighthawk. The project began with an experiment to install nest patches on rooftops and expanded to the initiatives listed below.

Data from New Hampshire and the region show that nighthawks are declining throughout their range. Most active at dusk and dawn, the “peent” call of Common Nighthawks was once a familiar sound in cities and towns throughout New Hampshire, where they nested on flat, peastone gravel roofs and fed on insects attracted to city lights (everything from mosquitoes to large moths). The reasons for their decline are not clear but nighthawks are one of the “aerial insectivores” (swifts, swallows, flycatchers) which are nearly all showing significant declines.

Click here to view Common Nighthawk Guide to Identification, Monitoring, and Behavior during Nesting (PDF document)

Project Nighthawk Initiatives

• Rooftop Nest Patch Experiment
• Nighthawk Nesting Habitat Research
• NH Breeding Nighthawk Monitoring and Behavioral Studies
• Wind Turbine and Nighthawks

Contribute to Our Research

Please make a contribution to our research. We depend on your help – thank you!

Click here to donate online (Select Project Nighthawk under “Choose you project”).
or

Mail a check – Project Nighthawk, 84 Silk Farm Road, Concord, NH 03301.

Volunteer for the project – contact Becky Suomala at rsuomala@nhaudubon.org.