Birds of the Lower Ohio River Valley in West Virginia
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Common Nighthawk Chordeiles minor
WINTER: NO RECORDS.
SUMMER: Uncommon to Fairly Common Resident. Populations appear to have declined since the 1980's (Hall 1983, Kiff et al. 1986, Peterjohn 2001).
MIGRATION:
Spring: Fairly Common Migrant arriving in late April to mid-May. Early dates, 14 April 1945 (Edeburn et al. 1960); 24 April 2004 (BD); 27 April 1984 (HS); 28 April 1975 and 1983 (HS).
Fall: Common to Abundant Migrant (Very Abundant in some years) from mid-August to early September. Occasional early August flights occur. Many mid-September to mid-October records. Late dates, 02 November 1947 (Edeburn et al. 1960); two on 28 October 2006 (PT); one on 27 October 2001 (DP); two on 26 October 1975 (HS); five on 21 October 1975 and seven on 21 October 1979 (HS).
REMARKS:
Subspecies: Edeburn et al. (1960) stated late fall migrants may be the western subspecies Chordeiles minor sennetti. Hall (1983) stated late fall migrants might contain representatives of other subspecies, however, all specimens are referable to the eastern subspecies. A specimen of the Lesser Nighthawk, a WV state record, was collected on 28 April 2004 at Glenville, Gilmer Co., WV ( Benedetti 2004, Hall 2004).