Nighthawks are common sights around metro Phoenix. When I play tennis at night, they sweep back and forth over the lights, fluttering like bats, feasting on insects and apparently showing off their white wingbars, according to
this adorable legend from the Blackfeet Indians.
Because I normally don’t see Nighthawks except when they’re flying at night, it was a total surprise to stumble across a pair of them along a suburban wash one morning. It was July, hot. Extremely hot. The two of them had been sitting in the gravel just off the sidewalk. They quickly flew away to the other side of the wash, exposing their tell-tale bars on their wings.
Safely far away from me across the wash, they both settled down in the gravel about a foot away from one another. One of them had a really puffy white patch under the throat. If I hadn't seen the white wing bars, I might've wondered if it was a different bird I wasn't familiar with. When I got home, I investigated and found out that the puffed-out throat is something the male does in courtship.
So, I stumbled across two lovers. I probably woke them up after a long night of passion, and they were just trying to catch some Z’s.
I don't know if we have nighthawks up here. Your illustrations are great! We recently had some baby hawks born behind our house in one of the tall pines. It took me a few days to figure out what the screeching was. I managed to snap a couple pictures but it was very hard to discern if they were Cooper or Sharp-shinned hawk babies.
ReplyDeleteI feel it's always something special when they are so close to us, like the hawks you spotted that morn.