I was watching the bats flying around my yard last evening at dusk when
suddenly a much larger bat momentarily joined in. At least, at first I
thought it was a large bat... as it flew over my head I saw that it was a
bird with very long, narrow, pointed wings and a moderately forked, long-ish
tail. It swooped and changed direction very quickly and effortlessly -- the
sighting lasted less than 10 seconds. By the time I fully realized I was
looking at a bird, not a bat, it was gone -- so I hardly had a chance to get
field marks. It was pretty dark, anyway. I did get the impression of a
falcon-like bird, maybe a little larger than mourning dove size, but with
longer, narrower wings.

My googling to discover the identity of this bird leads me only to Common
Nighthawk. I don't believe it was a Martin or any kind of swallow or swift
(chimney swifts are very common in my area). I didn't notice any white wing
patches, though — which usually are pretty evident, from my limited
experience. It was about twice the size of the bats (likely little brown),
which would put it at about 9 inches long with a wingspan around 20"-22".
This sounds good for Common Nighthawk also.

What other bird might display flight behavior similar to a feeding bat?
Would a nighthawk be feeding very close to the ground? I did witness a
nighthawk do a courtship display in the yard once several years ago, so I
guess it wouldn't be unprecedented. Just unusual!

Any thoughts appreciated.

Karen Gray
Copley

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