ML233147921

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

Bird flew through our yard early this morning. Long narrow wings, all dark except white stripes towards ends of wings and underneath. This bird flew in from behind me, in a swoop through the yard and gone, just under tree top height (tall Green Ash). I immediately called it a Common Nighthawk, because of its' slender shape, long and narrow pointed wings, dihedral form, and of course the white bars from front to back of the wings about 2/3 wing length away from the body (CONI first shows up on my lifelist in 1976). The fact that it was in a glide made me stop and look up further information because I had never seen one do that before. Because I saw it from below and behind, the tail shape was not readily apparent to me, and in the accompanying sketch I show it as a series of dashes. Other birds with white wing bars or flashes that I commonly see here are Belted Kingfishers, but they are stocky and as far as I know unable to maintain a glide in flight. It most obviously was not a duck, nor a Golden Eagle by the size. Was it a Northern Mockingbird, that has been seen in the area? I don't think so, judging by the narrow and pointed wing shape and the fact that the white was a bar from leading to trailing edge.

Technical information

Dimensions

2891 pixels x 1768 pixels

Original file size

2.2 MB