Nighthawk flights

[Zuma]

I have seen these neat birds in mass a very few times.
When I have the color and conformation of the sky has been stunning.
I think I was mowing a hillside. Perhaps feeding them.

I have seen them pass my home in the spring and early fall
 during their migrations. The Monarch butterflies pass here also.
The Tree Swallows nest her and migrate back to Mexico.
Hard to do with a screen view digital camera but I snagged a silhouette
of one today. If anyone has seen these birds (may be in decline) please
share.
Zuma

[JoJoDapyro]

I have always called them Night Hawks as well. Not local, but North Eastern Utah, near Flaming Gorge.

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/common_nighthawk/id

[Badly Bent]

Used to see them all the time as a kid, grew up in west central IL at the Miss Hippy river. Never see them where I'm at now in N/E IL.

[Stringman]

I'm still there Greg and I see them often. Cool bird!

[Badly Bent]

Good to know they still appear there Scott, heck we don't even get to see stars where I'm at now from all the light pollution.

[stickbender]

      I used to see them often, in the summer.  They are ground nesters, and don't make a nest.  We called them "Bull Bats"  because of the roar they make, when they dive with their mouths open to catch insects.  You could hear them from quite a distance.  We would see their eggs, and young on the ground.  Not much vacant open land here in Florida, for them any more.

                                     Wayne

[mullet]

Like Wayne said, we called them Bull Bats, also. There are a lot of them around where I live.

[Zuma]

Wow, I had no idea their distribution was so extensive.
Thanks for the link Jojo.
Thanks for the replys folks.
They may not be tasty but they would be a challenge with
the bow while in flight.
They remind me of a jet version of a small seagull.
I have seen red eyed birds in the headlights, along the roadway at night.
They usually fly away. I think they are Nighthawks.
Zuma

[DC]

I was watching some the night before last while soaking in the hot tub. I'm on Vancouver Island. I seem to remember more of them when I was a kid. Loved to hear the buzz(roar) when they dove. I read somewhere that the sound was caused by their primary wing feathers vibrating when they pulled out of a dive. I don't hear the buzz anymore, probably the hearing aids.
Don

[mullet]

Don;

I can't count how many times they scared the crap out of me walking back in the dark, when they dove on bugs I stirred up in the night.

[Zuma]

Amazing, Vancover to Florida.
THANKS, DC DID YOU HEAR THAT? lol just kidding, I am right there with ya.
Eddie, really, scared of a little bird. I know you ain't scered of nothin no more.
They are memorable critters.
Zuma

[JoJoDapyro]

Pheasants are the only bird that scares me. They wait until you are about to put your foot on them to fly away. Gets me every time. I work with a woman who is terrified of my parakeets.

[Marks]

I've seen those. I think that's what I see late in the evening over the dove field. I'm never heard/noticed the roar y'all are talking about.

[JW_Halverson]

As far as I am concerned, it is not summer without them.  I love the roar of their wingfeathers rattling as they pull out of those Stuka bomber dives!  It's part of their charm, I guess.

They look kinda like falcons with the long wings, but they are actually part of the bird family called goatsuckers. Back in medieval days, they thought these widemouthed birds would come in the night and nurse on your goat, causing the goat to dry up.     Also in this family are whip-poor-wills, poorwills, and such.  Closely related to their ancestors is a family of birds we call owls!  Howz dat for cool?

[mullet]

JW, it's one of the main sounds you hear down in these parts when you are walking in the early morning dark during Turkey season. Then the Jake's Widow start, the Barred Owl, then that glorious, gobble.