This week’s featured creature is the common nighthawk. And while it is fairly common, some say the name “nighthawk” may be a misnomer, because the bird is neither strictly nocturnal nor a ...

The well-camouflaged common nighthawk has long pointed wings, appearing like a hawk or falcon, thus the name. Look for a distinctive white bar on the wing. Greg Schechter (creativecommons.org ...

"The common nighthawk hunts on the wing at dawn and dusk, opening its tiny beak to reveal a cavernous mouth well suited for snapping up flying insects," Cornell writes in its profile of the species.

Our nighthawk is a jay-sized bird about 10 inches in length. They have mottled grayish-brown feathers, a long forked tail and long pointed wings with a broad white wing bar.

The Common Nighthawk is not common. It is listed as an endangered species in New Hampshire and has experienced dramatic population declines across most of its range from Canada to Panama.

These insect eaters are easily recognized from underneath by the white stripe near the bend of each wing. Common nighthawks do not build a nest. They instead lay their eggs on unsheltered rocky ...

A common nighthawk in flight displays its distinctive white wing patches. Since I was old enough to look skyward, nighthawks have been my favorite sign of the fall migration.

The flight of the common nighthawk is erratic and jerky, as it preys on various flying insects. The white bands on its under-wings can be sometimes seen as it flies in the evening, at an altitude ...

Unlike various species of swallows and swifts, which beat their wings rapidly and swoop around so fast they can be hard to follow with binoculars, nighthawks are much more deliberate.

The common nighthawk ability to switch easily from nighttime to daytime mode makes it much easier for us to observe these birds. Nighthawks look somewhat like swifts and swallows but are much larger.

Inspecting the large head and pointy wings, we realized that it was a common nighthawk. A couple of weeks later, she sent me another picture of parent and child.

Unlike various species of swallows and swifts, which beat their wings rapidly and swoop around so fast they can be hard to follow with binoculars, nighthawks are much more deliberate.