Subject: [Tweeters] Yet more on Nighthawks, C + Lesser
Date: Jul 2 22:18:42 2006
From: Mark Egger - m.egger at comcast.net


Ed and all,

Interesting thoughts on the decline of Common
Nighthawks in W. Washington. Very anecdotally, it
seems to me that the decline has been most rapid
in the last 20 years or so. When I first moved to
the Seattle area (Woodinville) in 1979, I
remember being pleasantly surprised to hear the
"peent" and "twang" of nighthawks (often one than
one) as they cruised over almost nightly in the
summer months. Since that time, they seemed to
very gradually disappear, until now I VERY rarely
hear or see any in this area (including none this
year so far). Perhaps oddly, the only one I
recall encountering in the last 5 years or so was
over Safeco Field during an evening Mariner's
game!

Mark



>
>Hi All,
>
>This is more on a subject I have harangued about
>before--I hope it's not overly tiresome.
>
>Regarding the recent characterization of the
>Nighthawk as a clearcut-breeder in Western
>Washington: While it?s not wrong or
>inaccurate?I?m not criticizing!-- I worry that
>such a characterization could inadvertently
>damage this bird?s reputation among folks new to
>birding in Washington, just as the official
>common name of this bird damages it?s reputation
>with every passing day.
>
>There are wonderful birds like the California &
>Mountain Quail & Anna?s Hummingbird that are
>only here because of the efforts of humans in
>one way or another to alter the landscape or the
>avifauna. The Common Nighthawk is definitely not
>in that category.
>
>Before the arrival of settlers from eastern US,
>the Nighthawk mainly nested on logjams in
>rivers, which were huge and ubiquitous. It no
>doubt also used gravel bars on rivers, and
>presumably prairies maintained by Native
>Americans. When the logjams were removed (It
>took over 10 years to remove the Skagit?s
>logjam) and the rivers diked, this bird had to
>find an all-new nesting strategy. It needs a
>clear path up to the sky and a low density of
>predators, because it has very little defensive
>ability.
>
>Roof-top nesting was very successful for
>Nighthawks until the latter half of the 1900s. I
>came to Seattle at the tail end of the Nighthawk
>era, still I remember being so enamored in the
>late 70s of the fact that each Seattle
>neighborhood had its breeding Nighthawk pair,
>even the downtown.
>
>Clearcuts are the other new thing under the sun
>that Nighthawks have taken to incorporating into
>their nesting strategy, and of course more power
>to them.
>
>The decline of Nighthawks on the lowland
>Northwestern part of the continent has been
>massive. Here?s what Marshall et al in Birds of
>Oregon write: "Anecdotal reports indicate a
>drastic reduction in numbers in the Willamette
>Valley during the latter half of the 20th
>century. Reported as common to abundant from the
>late 1800s through the mid-1900s (cites 6
>observers). Currently uncommon to rare and local
>in the Willamette Valley. "
>
>By contrast, in their otherwise wonderful book
>Birds of Washington Wahl et al have somewhat
>understated the issue in my opinion: "...there
>is concern that lowland populations have
>declined (in the Puget Trough)."
>
>Both books downplay the declines on the east
>side of their respective states, where
>Nighthawks are viewed as quite a bit more stable
>and not in trouble. I claim no scientific
>stature for my own views, but I doubt it.
>
>I am thrilled to hear of all the sightings in
>the Puget trough lately of both Nighthawk
>species which are a positive development no
>matter how you slice them?it means the birds are
>alive.
>
>However it could relate to some horrible
>breeding conditions in the hinterlands. I?m here
>on the line between the Sonoran & Chihuahuan
>desert in a canyon (visiting my in-laws who are
>putting a conservation easement on their land)
>where I expect to see small flocks of Lesser
>Nighthawks in the evenings but so far we?ve seen
>only one bird per night max. With the total
>rainfall so far this year at 1", the worst on
>record here, a lot of birds aren?t breeding this
>year, and Lesser Nighthawks could definitely be
>in that category. (But there are cumulous clouds
>over the Chircahuas as I write & great hope this
>place will green up into a paradise any
>minute?like Flagstaff just started to.)
>
>A special thanks to everyone who has taken the
>trouble to report their Nighthawk sightings to
>Tweeters this year.
>
>Go Nighthawks!
>
>Ed Newbold
><mailto:ednewbold1 at yahoo.com>ednewbold1 at yahoo.com
>from the AZ-NM border where the Lucifer?s
>Hummingbirds are most uncooperative
>photo-subjects, the Blacktail Rattlers are most
>courteous, and the Spotted Skunk young are cuter
>than I could have imagined. Cheers
>
>.
>
>
>
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--
Mark Egger
Seattle, WA
USA
mailto:m.egger at comcast.net