Nighthawks and poorwills are considered aerial insectivores, meaning they eat strictly insects. The nighthawk, shown here, has one of the longest migration routes of all North American birds. Photo by Bob Martinka
by Sophie Tsairis
Across Montana's evening skies, two mysterious birds are disappearing, and wildlife managers are calling on citizen scientists and bird enthusiasts to help find them.
Montana Audubon and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks are launching a coordinated effort to count and report common nighthawks and common poorwills, two nocturnal birds facing concerning population declines in the state. Their dwindling numbers could signal a critical warning for ecosystem health as climate change and habitat loss increasingly threaten biodiversity worldwide.
"Nighthawks are declining across their range nationally, and we lack statewide population and distribution data in Montana," said Gwynne Rohde of Montana Audubon. FWP classifies poorwills as a "Species of Greatest Inventory Need" and a potential "Species of Concern," and nighthawks as a “Species of Greatest Inventory Need.”
Ella Engelhard, a nongame technician for FWP, told Mountain Journal the agency is collaborating with Montana Audubon to focus on the two species because both groups lack baseline data across the state, which makes it difficult to determine potential management actions that could be taken in the future. “Without collecting a baseline dataset of nightjars throughout Montana, we are unable to track their population trends over a longer period of time,” she said.
Under cover: The common poorwill is highly camouflaged with a "dead leaf pattern." Photo by Dan Ellison
Both common nighthawks and common poorwills are considered nightjars, nocturnal birds that hunt from dawn to dusk, and also aerial insectivores, meaning they rely strictly on eating insects to survive. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, aerial insectivores face the highest percentage of species decline of any taxonomic group: 73 percent, or nearly 160 million birds.
Both species are important indicators of ecosystem health. "As aerial insectivores, they can tell us a lot about what might be happening around us, including impacts of a changing climate,”
Engelhard wrote in an email. “If insect populations decline in an area due to pesticides, habitat loss or fragmentation (e.g. native prairie habitat turned to agriculture), that will ultimately reduce the number of aerial insectivores and point to a broader issue and imbalance that may be occurring in that ecosystem.”
The greatest cause for such a high decline, according to Engelhard, is the use of pesticides and insecticides across urban and rural environments throughout the birds’ ranges which decreases available prey as well as the conversion of natural habitats to agriculture and urban development. “The species can be drawn into developed areas due to more light which insects tend to be around at greater rates,” she said. “Because of this, they are more likely to get hit by vehicles, fly into buildings and have lower nest success due to higher rates of disturbance.”
The project will train volunteers to conduct twilight surveys along designated routes, where they will stop at 10 different points to scan the dusk skies. Using an app to record their findings, participants will send the data directly to a state database.
In-person and digital training opportunities for volunteers will include species identification, survey protocols and data collection. The sessions included a Zoom training on May 14, and an in-person session on June 27 at the Montana WILD Center, 2668 Broadwater Avenue, in Helena.
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About Sophie Tsairis
Sophie Tsairis is a freelance writer based in Bozeman, Montana. She earned a master's degree in environmental journalism from the University of Montana in 2017.
