Nighthawk Breeding Summary 2020

Article by Rebecca Suomala

Photos right:
Top: Two Common Nighthawk chicks at a nest in the Concord area. Photo 7-3-20 by Rebecca Suomala.
Bottom: A female Common Nighthawk doing a distraction display to lure us away from two nearby chicks. Photo 7-3-20 by Rebecca Suomala (see the video link below).

Common Nighthawks had a good nesting season in 2020, perhaps because of the warm summer and lack of storms. Most years NH Audubon’s Project Nighthawk monitoring shows a decline in the state’s Common Nighthawks but this year numbers held steady or even increased in some areas. Despite COVID-19, volunteers and NH Audubon staff were able to do some monitoring.

There were ten confirmed nests in the state – a fantastic number. We were able to confirm fledged chicks at four of the sites, and failure at two sites (cause unknown). There were four additional sites with probable or possible nesting.

Keene confirmed a rooftop nest with one chick that stayed on site for 48 days, a record for Project Nighthawk. Brett Thelen of the Harris Center leads the effort in Keene and they followed the chick’s progress. No other nighthawks were found in Keene this year. In the Concord area, we had five confirmed nests – the most in many years. Most nests were confirmed by the behavior of the adults but we did find one nest with two chicks. The female did a distraction display to lure us away and you can see the video on NH Audubon’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xgmGz6nDEw. This year Concord males were active as late as 11:00 pm, much later than the usual 9:30 quiet time, making for late watches. Why was this year different, and only in Concord? We have no idea!

The Ossipee Pine Barrens area was the usual hotbed of activity and we tallied a total of 13 males and 2-3 females during one watch. The Nature Conservancy did some management which improved the habitat for nighthawks at one site resulting in a remarkable five males and at least one female at that site. The pine barrens is the only natural area with a strong population of Common Nighthawks in the state.

Nighthawk males display over a potential nest site with a fluttery flight, loud peents, and regular dives which result in a whooshing noise called a boom. One Concord site had a male displaying loudly and persistently. Check the video to hear it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1On-CRxLNc (note that it’s dark so you can’t see the bird).

This project was funded by private donations and NH Fish & Game. For a copy of the full breeding summary check the Project Nighthawk monitoring page: https://nhbirdrecords.org/nh-breeding-nighthawk-monitoring-and-behavioral-studies/(scroll down to the summaries for each year).