Nighthawks are Now Swarming NH, and Here’s How to Spot Them

They're known as the 'Common Nighthawk' but to any bird nerd, these beauties are anything but 'common'. Now is the best time to see them here in New Hampshire.

Since today is National Wildlife Day, I figured that this would be the perfect time to celebrate one of my favorite insectivores, The Common Nighthawk!

The best time to see these acrobats is around sunset, so, 6pm until just before dark would be the time slot.

In normal conditions, they're usually seen hundreds of feet in the air as they feast on high flying insects. HOWEVER, on multiple occasions I have now spotted them closer to the ground than I ever have, only twenty or thirty feet up!

This may be due to an over abundance of dragonflies which fly much lower than the normal winged 'chow' of these nifty nightjars.

If you are lucky enough to see a flock of them (they can travel in groups of 50 or more) please take a couple minutes, preferably in a declined lawn chair, and watch them go!

They're really cool to watch and they're headed South now, so they won't be here for very much longer.