tomjenner
Well-known member
I recently photographed these two birds on the coast of El Salvador and I want to try and identify them. I have been trying to use the field guides, but some of the features of the birds in the photos do not seem to fall neatly within any one species. Lesser Nighthawk is common in the area but there are almost no records of Common Nighthawks migrating through the country, though one would expect there to be more.
The main feature to look for seems to be the shape and position of the white wing flash. Howell and Webb (Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America) say that the border of the white band is often strongly staggered and is sharply toothed. In both photos the white markings seem to be staggered and toothed, as shown in the plate in their book. They also say that the white flash falls short of, or even with, the tips of the tertials. This is a feature that is less obvious to see, because in one it is partially covered over and may extend further towards the tip than can be seen, and in the other it is near to, but not quite reaching, the tertial tips. After comparing my photos with Howell and Webb I was convinced that they were both Common Nighthawk. However, I then checked a photo in ‘The Audubon Society Master Guide to Birding’ which shows a Common Nighthawk with a white flash that is much further from the tip of the tertials than in either of my photos, which made me doubt my previous identification. Unfortunately, the photo of Lesser Nighthawk in this book does not show this feature. The plates in Sibley show the wing flash of Lesser Nighthawk to overlap the tip of the tertials (ie a bit further out than the birds in my photos) and Common Nighthawk to be much closer in towards the body.
In common, the wingtips are also supposed to project beyond the tail tip when it is sitting. In my photos there seems to be a slight projection, but not as much as is shown in some of these books.
If anyone has any experience with these two species I would really appreciate some help.
Thanks
Tom
The main feature to look for seems to be the shape and position of the white wing flash. Howell and Webb (Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America) say that the border of the white band is often strongly staggered and is sharply toothed. In both photos the white markings seem to be staggered and toothed, as shown in the plate in their book. They also say that the white flash falls short of, or even with, the tips of the tertials. This is a feature that is less obvious to see, because in one it is partially covered over and may extend further towards the tip than can be seen, and in the other it is near to, but not quite reaching, the tertial tips. After comparing my photos with Howell and Webb I was convinced that they were both Common Nighthawk. However, I then checked a photo in ‘The Audubon Society Master Guide to Birding’ which shows a Common Nighthawk with a white flash that is much further from the tip of the tertials than in either of my photos, which made me doubt my previous identification. Unfortunately, the photo of Lesser Nighthawk in this book does not show this feature. The plates in Sibley show the wing flash of Lesser Nighthawk to overlap the tip of the tertials (ie a bit further out than the birds in my photos) and Common Nighthawk to be much closer in towards the body.
In common, the wingtips are also supposed to project beyond the tail tip when it is sitting. In my photos there seems to be a slight projection, but not as much as is shown in some of these books.
If anyone has any experience with these two species I would really appreciate some help.
Thanks
Tom
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