Nighthawks noisy?

[Heritage]

I really enjoyed seeing what I think were two common nighthawks last night at dusk. They were swooping and diving over our little pond. A pleasure to watch, but when I looked them up in my bird book it spoke of them being very noisy. These birds were practically silent, brownish (almost dark so hard to get exact coloration), 20-24 inch wingspan. Flew much like a barn swallow, just much larger. They would land occasionally in a tree or on a fencepost to watch.

SO are nighthawks noisy or did I mis-ID ? or? anybody have some thoughts on this?

James

[camcar]

On several occasions I have seen common nighthawks and they didn't make a sound. Although on other occasions they have been very talkative. If they were indeed common nighthawks, which they probably were, they must not have been in a very friendly mood. The best way to ID them, for me, is the white bar at the base of the primaries. If I'm not mistaken, they are the only bird around here that has that characteristic.

Cameron

[Heritage]

Thanks for the reply, Cameron!
Because of being almost dark, I am not positive on the white bars, but all the other characteristics matched up. My boys and I definitely enjoyed watching them swoop around and even skim the surface of the water. Had a small bat come out around the same time that was much smaller than the nighthawks but almost seemed to be chasing one of the nighthawks for a few seconds. It was rather interesting. :)

James

[Bill Jones]

We have had them around Alcon for several years and yes the can be boisterous at times. They like to catch insects in the lights shining up on our flags at the front gate and several times I could hear them and all I could see was the white bars on their wings. A bit eerie at 6:00 am.

Last year our daughter, who lives in far west Fort Worth, asked me about them. They were hearing a lot of noise she couldn't really describe and went outside to find two (or more) Commom Nighthawks diving toward their home and pulling up just before hitting the roof. When they pulled up the wind in their feathers was creating the racket. Sarah said this happened several nights. This was in the late spring/early summer so I don't know if they were catching insects, having a mating ritual or just playing.

Bill