Nighthawk

Lukikus2 · Mar 1, 2011

Ya'll ever seen one of these?

I saw a mounted one in a National forest station and they are cool. They are totally nocturnal. I've seen some type of bird doing 100 mph thru the woods at night but figured it was a woodcock or something. Guess it could have been one of these.

oldways · Mar 1, 2011

I always thought that was a "whipper will" .

CAL · Mar 1, 2011

New to me,didn't know they existed.Looks like er whipper will to me too.

Nicodemus · Mar 1, 2011

Lukikus2 said:
Ya'll ever seen one of these?

I saw a mounted one in a National forest station and they are cool. They are totally nocturnal. I've seen some type of bird doing 100 mph thru the woods at night but figured it was a woodcock or something. Guess it could have been one of these.

Are you talkin` about a "bullbat"?

Twenty five ought six · Mar 1, 2011

Nicodemus said:
Are you talkin` about a "bullbat"?

What I call them.

MrBull · Mar 1, 2011

If Im not mistaken a whip poor will and a nighthawk are 2 different birds but they look very similar. I have seen alot of whip poor wills sitting in the middle of the hunting roads at night and they wont fly until you almost run over them.

Mr. Fishunt · Mar 1, 2011

Chuck Will's Widow

Interesting bird!
My guess is that the most common occurence is the Chuck Will's Widow.
The summer range for the Whip-poor-will is in North Georgia and above
They are very similar to the Whip-poor-will, however the Whip-poor-will is primarily a migratory bird that comes through Georgia and winters in Latin America.
The summer range of the Chuck Will's Widow is all of Georgia.
As a side note, the related Poor Will is one of the few birds to hibernate.

Regards,
Mr. Fishunt

NCHillbilly · Mar 1, 2011

The nighthawk is closely related to whip-poor-wills and chuck-will's-widows, but is smaller and a little more streamlined, they look like a giant swallow flying. We have always called them "bullbats" around here, too. They show up here in late summer and fall, you can see them flying around parking lot lights at night catching bugs sometimes. They often nest on flat tar-and-gravel roofs.
Not nearly as many whip-poor-wills around here as there used to be, I miss hearing them.

Resica · Mar 1, 2011

NCHillbilly said:
The nighthawk is closely related to whip-poor-wills and chuck-will's-widows, but is smaller and a little more streamlined, they look like a giant swallow flying. We have always called them "bullbats" around here, too. They show up here in late summer and fall, you can see them flying around parking lot lights at night catching bugs sometimes. They often nest on flat tar-and-gravel roofs.
Not nearly as many whip-poor-wills around here as there used to be, I miss hearing them.

Ya know ,I hadn't heard any in a long time until a few years back. I hear them all the time at the cabin now. Nice to hear them for a little while, but when they keep it up all night!! :banginghe

Lukikus2 · Mar 2, 2011

Nicodemus said:
Are you talkin` about a "bullbat"?

Nic never heard of that till now. Never even realized there was a nighthawk. After some googling this is what I came up with. If you google bull bat you get Nighthawk. But then googling whipperwill gets you a whipperwill, but it is strange how the two resemble each other.

The first pic is a whipperwill and
the second is a Bull bat or nighthawk.

Washington95 · Mar 4, 2011

Used to have them fly up in front of me on old woods roads. And think they're the birds I used to see years ago that would fly high then swoop down, making a noise as they fell. Haven't seen one in long time.

NCHillbilly · Mar 7, 2011

Washington95 said:
Used to have them fly up in front of me on old woods roads. And think they're the birds I used to see years ago that would fly high then swoop down, making a noise as they fell. Haven't seen one in long time.

That's where the name "bullbat" comes from is that sound you're describing.

shakey gizzard · Mar 7, 2011

Which one has the white spot on the underside of the wings?

JHannah92 · Mar 7, 2011

NCHillbilly said:
That's where the name "bullbat" comes from is that sound you're describing.

Is this kind of a buzzing/rumbling sound? I've had birds dive by and "buzz" me several times during turkey season just before daylight. Always suspected it was a nighthawk.

Lukikus2 · Mar 7, 2011

JHannah92 said:
Is this kind of a buzzing/rumbling sound? I've had birds dive by and "buzz" me several times during turkey season just before daylight. Always suspected it was a nighthawk.

I never knew nighthawks existed. Just blew them off as wooodcocks or whipperwills. Nobody ever told me in 40 sumin' years about em'. Now I google it and there are Chuck-wills'-widow, Common pauraque and Common poorwill on the list besides having nighthawks listed beside them. And they all look the same :huh:

GB Young · Mar 11, 2011

That is a goat sucker, or bull-bat, or nightjar, or whippoorwill, or chuckswill widow, or nighthawk. I guess they are all similar. We used to see them at dusk, around dove season. They have a mouth that is huge, but weak , thin beaks. Big eyes. Sounds like my ex.

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