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Cuban Nighthawks, Antillean or Common? (1 Viewer)

nikothomsen

Well-known member
Hi Guys,

I photographed these nighthawks in Cuba October 2017.

I've been told there's no way to visually distinguish between Antillean and Common Nighthawks. The eBird reviewer for Cuba would not accept these as Antillean due to the many storms in the US this past fall.

Is there anyway to visually tell them apart? They did not call.
 

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I found what got accepted as one or the other in Trinidad in about 2003, a really good record, however

concensus at the time was that this pair is inseparable without hearing the call.


A
 
Andy, are you saying that you found both Common and Antillean in Trinidad? And that you heard both?

No, we had one bird that was inseparable but was one or the other and accepted as such.

My record went down as 'Antillian or Common Nighthawk' as the call was not heard but either is a rarity in Trinidad.



A
 
Yeah, mine for Cuba has been accepted as an "/" as well. I just find it odd when comparing amounts of observations of CONI versus ANNI, which I have a hard time imagining all have been heard.
 
Time of year and activity (nesting) certainly affects the odds of which one is spotted. ANNI is a local breeder while CONI is a migrant.
 
My understanding is that Antillean Nighthawk doesn't arrive in the Greater Antilles until early April. I certainly haven't seen them on my visits to the four large islands in March.

ian
 
My understanding is that Antillean Nighthawk doesn't arrive in the Greater Antilles until early April. I certainly haven't seen them on my visits to the four large islands in March.

ian

Right, but I presume the moderator's insecurity of the presence of ANNI in October is whether they have left, not whether they have arrived?
 
I would say that the only thing that you can be reasonably confident about is that the birds you photographed (two, or more?) are males, based on the amount of white in the wing (females of both species typically show a much narrower band). As others, including the eBird reviewer, have pointed out, effectively the two species are not certainly identifiable in the field without the aid of vocals (which is why we do not know where gundlachii winters). Nevertheless, to my eye minor typically does look rather bulkier and broader-winged than gundlachii, thus if I was absolutely forced to guess my instinct would be to call these birds minor, albeit with a strong caveat.

For the record, Common typically moves through Cuba in autumn after the bulk of Antillean have probably left (latest record of latter 9 Oct, but at least two weeks later in Common).

As for spring arrival, Antillean typically does not arrive in large numbers until April, but there are records from the Caymans and Hispaniola in March, and Cuba as early as February (well before Common starts to move through). I suspect that Antillean even nests on undisturbed roofs of tall flat-topped buildings in downtown La Habana, given that one hears them singing from such sites in early May (but out in the sticks, I have found nests with eggs already by fourth week of April). There are also winter claims from both Dominican Republic (December) and Cuba (January); the latter was heard by an observer with ample experience of both species.
 
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