Tony's Takes Photography

Wildlife, landscape and weather photography

Sleepy common nighthawk

by Leave a Comment

Sleepy common nighthawk
A common nighthawk hangs out on a fence on the Colorado plains. (© Tony’s Takes)

On our camping trip on Colorado’s northeast plains a few weeks ago I spotted lots of these birds early in the morning. As you can tell, they were not exactly bundles of energy.

They loved soaking in the early morning sun while perched on fence posts and barely cracked their eyes open for me. Not quite the action shots I normally hope for but a fun bird to see.

Their name, “nighthawks”, is actually a bit of a misnomer. They are not nocturnal nor, as you can tell, are they a hawk. During summer they are found across much of the United States and Canada. Winters are spent in Mexico and warmer climates.

A common nighthawk hangs out on a fence on the Colorado plains. (© Tony's Takes)
A common nighthawk hangs out on a fence on the Colorado plains. (© Tony’s Takes)

Nighthawk has me putting on the brakes

by Leave a Comment

Driving down a rural country road I spotted this cool looking bird resting on a post. I knew right away what it was as I had seen pictures of them before but had never actually noticed one myself. It didn’t hang around long only giving me time to squeeze of this one shot but it was fun to get to see one in person.

While called a Nighthawk, both parts of that name are misnomer. They are not nocturnal nor, as you can tell, are they closely related to hawks. They can be found across much of the United States and Canada in the summer and then in Mexico and Central America during the winter.

A Nighthawk rests on a fence post in rural Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)
A Nighthawk rests on a fence post in rural Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)