Birds of the Upper Cumberland Region: Species Accounts

Common Nighthawk (Chordeiles minor)

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Abundance: Uncommon during late spring, summer, and early fall; recorded in 24 Regional counties (Map of UCR Distribution); the trend for the Regional breeding population is probably decreasing (see also Regional Bird-Monitoring Plan).

Status: Summer Resident.

Regional High Count: 2622 (28 August 1974; north of Crossville, Cumberland County, Tennessee; Adele West; West 1975; see also Remarks [below]); FBC/FBB High Count: 145 (21 September 2002; Putnam County, Tennessee [FBC]; Stephen J. Stedman); SBC/SBB High Count: 11 (12 May 2001; Putnam County, Tennessee [SBC]; m. ob.).

Regional Extreme Dates:

    Early Spring: x (

    Late Fall: x (

    Note: Spring arrival usually widespread by 5 May; fall departure largely complete by 5 October.  Regional dates of earliest reported spring arrival and latest reported fall departure for the years 2002–2011 follow:

Breeding: Confirmed (Recent).  The "nest" of this species is a simple scrape on bare ground, usually where some pebble component is present; the clutch is almost always 2 eggs, as illustrated in this photo (Joseph E. Mast; Crossville, Cumberland County, Tennessee; early June 2007).  This ground nester is quite susceptible to disturbance by free-roaming pets, of which many thousands are probably present in most Regional counties; nighthawks sometimes place their nests on flat rooftops that have a gravel covering and may reduce nest predation by doing so.

Habitat: An urbanite, the nighthawk is often found in the towns and larger villages of the Region; a review of the foray blocks where this goatsucker was recorded during UCR Forays shows that many of them were blocks with an urban component in them (see also Foray Results [below]).  However, nighthawks are also found far from urban centers at sites where extensive open areas are present.  For example, forested areas that have been recently clear-cut appear to be to the liking of this caprimulgid.  The deforested top of Hinch Mountain, Cumberland County, Tennessee, may harbor a pair of breeding nighthawks; at any rate, a courting male was heard at this site during the 2010 UCR Foray in Cumberland County.

YardWatch Results 2003 and 2004: Registered on 6 (of 125) monthly check-lists during 2003 and on 19 (of 206) check-lists during 2004, leading to YardWatch frequency classifications of Very Uncommon and Uncommon, respectively; the former of these YardWatch frequency  classifications is inconsistent with the overall Regional abundance classification for this caprimulgid, but the latter is consistent.

Foray Results: A summary of data from UCR Forays follows (to view a map displaying foray data for a county or a sub-Region for this species, click on the name of an underlined county or state below):

* Because some foray blocks fall into two or three counties, the total of blocks in the Kentucky or Tennessee portions of the Region is less than the sum of the blocks in the counties of each portion of the Region; similarly, because some blocks fall into both states, the total of blocks for the Region is less than the sum of the blocks in the two states.

Remarks: The Regional High Count (above) may have been superseded by an earlier count, but the earlier count was not a specific one; Mayfield (1933) reported "thousands" of nighthawks in northwestern Bledsoe County, Tennessee, 27 August 1933; the date of this sighting is well within the period when major flights of nighthawks pass southward through the Region, so it may well have involved an even higher count than the Regional High Count listed.

Check-lists of Birds for the Counties of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of each county of the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed by clicking on the links below. For each county, there are two check-lists: one list that shows the species that have been observed and where possible documented in the county within the larger list for the entire Region; and one list that includes only the species observed in the county with annotations for the date and observers for at least one sighting (the ultimate goal of the latter list will be to include annotations for the very first known Regional observation of each species in that county; this goal is probably one that will take many years to complete, if completion is even a possibility). To see if the species discussed in this species account has been observed in a county, click below or click on the link for the Map of UCR Distribution near the top of the page.

Check-lists of Birds for Some Public Access Birding Sites of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of some public access birding sites within the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed via the links below. To see if the species dealt with in this species account has been observed within any of these sites, click on the appropriate link below. See the pages for each county within the Gazetteer for links to additional smaller public access birding sites with check-lists in progress.

Literature Cited