Habitat
On their breeding grounds, Antillean Nighthawks forage over savannas, cane fields, pastures, golf courses, and other open areas, as well as above forests. This nighthawk’s nonbreeding grounds remain essentially unknown, but a single geolocated bird spent two months in remote forestlands in the Brazilian Amazon.
Back to topFood
Antillean Nighthawks feed on moths, beetles, and other flying insects. They are strong fliers, frequently diving and changing directions to pursue prey from just above the ground to over the tops of trees.
Back to topNesting
Nest Placement
Female lays 1–2 eggs on the ground, often in open areas with rocks or pebbles. Other nesting sites include salt flats, beaches, flat rooftops, and bauxite mines.
Nest Description
No nest. Female lays the eggs directly on the ground.
Nesting Facts
| Clutch Size: | 1-2 eggs |
| Incubation Period: | 19 days |
| Egg Description: | Pale gray to light green, heavily smudged with gray or brown. |
Behavior
The Antillean Nighthawk is an aerial feeder that hunts its insect prey largely over open habitats at dawn and dusk. Its flight while hunting is buoyant and erratic, often involving dives and swoops. Multiple individuals sometimes gather at insect-rich areas, especially after rain or when cloud cover is dense during the day. The male courts the female by calling but also by making steep dives that end with a boom produced by the nighthawk's flight feathers. Antillean Nighthawks often roost on posts, tree limbs and power lines, typically with the body held parallel to the limb or wire, as well as on the ground.
Back to topConservation
Partners in Flight estimates Antillean Nighthawk’s global breeding population size at 200,000 individuals and rates the species a 13 out of 20 on the Continental Concern Score, indicating a species of fairly low conservation concern.
Back to topCredits
Cleere, N. (1998) Nightjars: a guide to nightjars, nighthawks, and their relatives. Yale University Press, New Haven, Connecticut.
Guzy, Michael J. (2002). Antillean Nighthawk (Chordeiles gundlachii), version 2.0. In The Birds of North America (P. G. Rodewald, editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York, USA.
Partners in Flight (2023). Avian Conservation Assessment Database, version 2023.
Perlut, N., and A. Levesque (2020). Light-level geolocation reveals the migration route and non-breeding location of an Antillean Nighthawk (Chordeiles gundlachii). Journal of Caribbean Ornithology 33:49–53.
Raffaele, H. A., J. Wiley, O. Garrido, A. Keith, and J. Raffaele (1998). A Guide to the Birds of the West Indies. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, USA.
Sibley, D. A. (2014). The Sibley Guide to Birds, second edition. Alfred A. Knopf, New York, NY, USA.
Stiles, F. G., O. Acevedo-Charry, and A. M. Cuervo (2022). The first Colombian records of the Antillean Nighthawk (Chordeiles gundlachii), with notes on migrant Chordeiles in South America. Ornitología Colombiana 22:16–24.