Tonight on the Malheur WhatsApp there is a report of 2(!) Lesser Nighthawks
at Page Springs, observed by 4 people. No photos or eBird yet.
On Sun, Sep 19, 2021 at 5:19 PM larspernorgren <larspernorgren@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
There is an eBird report with pictures from Hayden Island 9/15. It has
longer P9 than P10. Could juvenile CONIs still be growing P10, hence it's
shorter? The wing spot is visible. I don't know how it compares for either
species.
Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone
-------- Original message --------
From: Dennis Arendt <dennisarendt@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: 9/19/21 5:06 PM (GMT-08:00)
To: Oregon Birders On Line <obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [obol] Lesser Nighthawk at Page Springs
Roger Robb and I saw this nighthawk on September 15 near the entrance to
Page Springs campground. At first we considered it to be a Common
Nighthawk, but its white wing band was very difficult to see. After some
research and a closer look at my very poor photographs, we noticed that
the P10 (primary feather) was shorter than the P9 giving the wing tip a
rounded appearance and the dull white wing band was farther out on the
primaries than you would expect on a Common Nighthawk. Both of these
characteristics would indicate a Lesser Nighthawk. Also, the dullness of
the white wing band is a common trait on the female and juvenile Lesser
Nighthawk. We decided to pass the photos onto Noah Strycker, because he is
one of the eBird reviewers for Harney County. Noah thought the photos were
indicative of a Lesser Nighthawk. He sent the photos to Russ Namitz and
Roger sent them to Doug robinson. Both Russ and Doug concurred that this
looked like a Lesser Nighthawk. I will attach a few of the photos here.
Dennis Arendt
