Results of the 2022 Nighthawk Monitoring Season

 

words by Edward Warden

In the summer of 2022, Chicago Ornithological Society launched a new volunteer monitoring program to track, study, and conserve Chicago’s nighthawk population. All of the available data showed a clear trend of Common Nighthawks rapidly declining across their range but very little information on how to reverse this trend. So in order to better understand what is happening to Chicago’s nighthawks, what their needs are, and how we can take action to protect their local populations, COS put a call out for volunteers to participate in a pilot monitoring program. We weren’t sure what would happen. The whole thing was really a shot in the dark with planning starting late in the season, no idea if anyone would want to monitor, and what they would even find, if anything. But with the 2022 pilot season now behind us, we’re very happy to report that not only did several amazing volunteers answer the call, but they did in fact find nighthawks! We are excited to now share some of the key results of their efforts:

2022 Pilot Season Monitoring Numbers:

  • 16 volunteer monitors

  • 48 locations monitored

  • Of the locations monitored, 26 had nighthawks

  • 116 site visits we made over the monitoring period with checklists submitted via ebird

  • 76 nighthawk detections overall

Some Early Trends Emerging (we’ll see if these continue to hold true with further monitoring):

  • The experience level of monitors had little effect on whether nighthawks are detected or not

  • The duration of monitoring had little effect on whether nighthawks detected, either they were there or they weren’t

  • Nighthawk presence positively correlates with increasing tree cover, basically, more trees = more nighthawks

  • Nighthawk presence positively correlates with increasing housing density, apartments for the win?

  • Confirmed that nighthawks are in fact very cool creatures and worth protecting, just in case you were still wondering

With the protocol COS developed now thoroughly tested, new data analysis to inform future monitoring in hand, and a small army of eager volunteers spread across the Chicago region, we’re ready to graduate from “pilot season” into our first full monitoring season in 2023. We feel more optimistic than ever that we can make a difference in the fight to conserve Common Nighthawks.

To learn more about The Chicago Nighthawk Project and how to support the team, check out our project page.

A huge thank you to the volunteers who donated their time, birding skills, and local knowledge of nighthawk strongholds: Alison Anastasio, Timothy Balassie, Stephanie Beilke, Robyn Detterline, Adriana Garcia, Claire Halpin, Daniella Herrera, Scott Judd, Larry Krutulis, Marion Miller, Lisa Pool, Peggy Sloan, John Sprovieri, Jake Vinsel, Edward Warden, and Christine Williamson.

Thank you to Mason Fidino of the Urban Wildlife Institute at Lincoln Park Zoo for help with data analysis and graphics.

Thank you as well to Gretchen Newberry and Jana Gedymin for their insights and feedback in the protocol development process.

The team put together a poster about and presented on the findings summarized here at the biennial Wild Things Conference on 2/25/23. You can view a PDF of that poster here:

 
ConservationEdward Wardennighthawks