August. The last month of summer. School starts next week in Pittsburgh.
This bird knows summer is almost over. By the end of the month he’ll leave for South America.
Do you know who he is? Do you know why he leaves so soon?
(photo by Dan Arndt, Creative Commons license on Flickr. Click on the image to see the original. Dan lives in Calgary and writes for two blogs: Birds Calgary and Bird Canada.)
p.s. Check the comments for the answer.
The common nighthawk (Chordeiles minor) eats flying insects. He has to leave before it gets too cold for them to fly.
I saw at least 20 of them flying & calling overhead last evening at Tambellini’s in Highland Park – I told my friend they must be meeting up to get ready to head south.
We have been interested in the Nighthawk migration for years. Usually, at the end of August, you will see large flocks gathering but not making a sound, we always thought they were gathering for the trip……Unlike the normal peep…that you hear while they are feeding
I had a flock of 7 migrating down the Allegheny River Sunday evening.