Common Nighthawk: ABA Bird of the Year

Common Nighthawk

The ABA bird of the year for 2013 is the Common Nighthawk (you can read more about the choice here).  So this summer, keep your ears tuned in the early morning and evenings!  If you hear their distinctive buzzing peent! call, you may just be hearing a nighthawk.  Look up and you may just see them flying in graceful loops above you. I'm hoping this year to capture some more presentable photos of this wonderful species.

Interestingly, you may hear these birds referred to by an older, but very odd name--goatsucker.  Yea, that's right.  The name comes from the misinformed belief that nighthawks suck goat's milk. Weird. I'm glad we don't have to call these birds by that name anymore. But, if you would like to have some fun, you can actually "prove" to your friends that chupacabras (the Spanish word for "goatsucker") exist! But instead of a legendary, blood-sucking, menacing creature, it's a bird that also sports a much cooler (and  more appropriate) name.

Common Nighthawk

Common Nighthawk