We recently shared information about the Chuck-will’s-widow, a bird common to Seabrook Island, more often heard than seen. A similar bird common to Seabrook Island, but generally not heard or even seen by many, is the Common Nighthawk.
Both birds are in the nightjar family and breed in this area. They are often called “goatsuckers” due to an ancient superstition by early Europeans, who believed these mysterious birds would fly in at night and use their peculiarly wide mouths to steal milk from the udders of mother goats, often leaving them dry or blind. However, they are primarily insect eaters who spend their time at dusk and dawn darting about in the sky, scooping and sucking up as many insects into their wide mouths as they can.
Species in the Nightjar family can be found on six of the seven continents. The Common Nighthawk, as seen in the distribution map, breeds in North American, and winters in South America.
In Charleston County, the Common Nighthawks begin arriving in April and start migrating south in late summer/early fall.
As Gina Sanders wrote in The Seabrooker, July 2023, “be on the lookout for Common Nighthawks swooping over the dunes. With a bounding, erratic flight they feed on insects they scoop from the air. Their sound is a nasal “peent” and your best chance to see them is at dawn or dusk.”
Next time you are down near the beach at dawn or dusk, listen and watch for these fascinating cousins of the Chuck-will’s-widow and let us know when and where you see them!
Article written by: Nancy Brown
Sources: The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Birds of the World; Carolina Bird Club;
SIB 