We have heard next to nothing about nighthawk movements this fall, even 
though we are still in the later part of their migration. I searched 
reports on US lists, and find truly puny reports in many places. Ohio 
reports are next to none. I make it a point to look for them every fall 
(their spring migrations are a lot harder to observe), and this fall 
I've just seen a few small flocks, and mostly none. I hear there have 
still been some appreciable numbers moving north near the Lake in 
Minnesota and Wisconsin, but Ohio seems left out almost entirely this 
year. Has anyone seen more than a hundred in Ohio at once this year? 
Fifty? I used to, often.
        Sometimes bird populations shrink so slowly that it's easy to miss 
them, but nighthawks moving at dusk should be easy to count. There are a 
lot of beginners out there, and it's easy to lose a historical context, 
so here are some observations from my work on central Ohio birds 
concerning nighthawks that are beginning to seem already out of date:
        "Noticeably in decline as an urban nester here, and even in wilder 
spots in Canada.  Wheaton (1882:384) said of their southbound migrations 
here 130 years ago that “thousands are sometimes seen,” and today large 
numbers--seldom in the thousands--are reported only occasionally....The 
highest twilight counts of fall movements usually come from late 
August-early September, and include a description of circle-soaring by 
“at least several thousand” over the OSU campus 9/3/1968, 3000+ on 
9/3/1976, and 2500 on 9/3/1992. Later in fall, 224 were observed 
10/3/2006.  One entered the OSU campus’s main library on 10/22/1965. 
Record late was one lingering 11/20/1975 at High St. and Morse Rd."  I 
hope these valiant birds will still be making their migrations to South 
America long after I'm gone, but I'm starting to worry.
Bill Whan
Columbus

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