Field Trip Recap: Nighthawks at Northerly Island

words by Steve Whitman

On Sept. 4, COS President Edward Warden welcomed 25 birders who joined him on a Nighthawk Watch at Northerly Island with hopes of observing the cryptic and enigmatic nightjar migrate across Chicago’s beautiful skyline. 

Warden had informed registrants that he would track the weather patterns for the ideal migratory conditions over a few days’ span and then announce the specific day for the event. He explained that the winds forecast for that evening might bring Common Nighthawks along their migratory routes, and because they avoid flying over open water, the lakefront could be a strategic viewing location. 

As birders arrived and set up their folding chairs and snacks on the lawn behind the Park District Center, they were treated to the show’s opening act: an American Kestrel that perched a mere 30 feet from the gathering place lawn. Later, that kestrel was seen preying on something on the ground, and then back up on its perch, eating something small caught in its talons. The bird and some of the birders snacked together.

Warden, wearing his lucky t-shirt featuring the Edward Hopper painting “Nighthawks,” tempered expectations while explaining the biology and behavior of nighthawks. They aren’t very aptly named because they are not hawks and are most active at dawn and dusk, not at night. He described (and imitated) their peent call and the noise made by wind against their feathers when they dive in courtship displays or when protecting their nests. Warden also told the group how to look high above trees, but below the clouds, for a bird that has a wide wingspan and flies in an erratic fashion as it hunts insects on the wing. 

Northerly Island provides a particularly stunning view of the Chicago skyline, and Warden encouraged the group to look to the north and west, from where the Common Nighthawks might be migrating. While scanning, Warden’s eagle eye spotted a Bald Eagle soaring high above the skyline toward the Sears Tower (Warden offered no apology for using its former name).

While the group scanned and socialized, Warden introduced Ted Gross, the Northerly Island Park District Center Director, who shared the history of the land, from Daniel Burnham’s 1909 Plan of Chicago to Jeanne Gang’s future Northerly Island Framework Plan. Gross also described the erosion challenges the island faces and the conservation efforts made to make the park a birding hotspot.

At about 7:30 pm, Warden spotted the show’s headliner. The Common Nighthawks entered stage left, above the Adler Planetarium’s dome. Twelve of them were in the distance and could be observed flying in the distinctive style that Warden had just described. 

As the sky darkened, an impressive insect swarm and a bat were seen, but no more nighthawks. However, the camaraderie and nighthawk views, albeit brief, made for an enjoyable and memorable evening for all.