Common Nighthawk

How to find it

Look for them in flight at dawn and dusk while they hunt flying insects. If you see none, listen for low buzzy 'peent' calls overhead. A Costa Rica resident birder says that to see nighthawks on migration he usually has to go to the Caribbean lowlands or coast. Small numbers do pass through the Central Valley, and one birder had a nighthawk swoop past at eye level there. The most reliable time is during migration, so plan around the autumn and spring passage.

How to recognise it

Look for long, pointed wings and a notched tail.

A white band crosses the wing feathers midway between the wrist bend and the wingtip. It is the mark that catches the eye in flight.

The throat patch is white in males and buffy in females.

On male Commons the white wing spot looks staggered on the closed wing.

With the wings folded, they reach about as far back as the tail tip.

It is slightly larger than the Lesser Nighthawk, which is the look-alike in Costa Rica.

What it sounds like

Recording: Clifton Ladd, C.W.B., CC BY 4.0, source, read 4 Nov 2026.

Behaviour and diet

Nighthawks are more daytime and aerial than other nightjars, and they often start flying before dusk. They catch flying insects in the air and feed mostly near dawn and dusk. Sometimes they feed at night under a full moon or near street lights.

During courtship the male makes a booming sound in display flight. Nighthawks migrating over Costa Rica can be seen in daylight, especially on the Caribbean coast, and many more probably drift overhead silently at night.

Where it lives

Spring migrants occur over much of Costa Rica below about 1300 m. In autumn the main flow runs along the Caribbean coast and adjacent lowlands, with smaller numbers through the Central Valley and Pacific lowlands.

The few breeders use windswept, rolling savannas on the lower Pacific slopes of the Guanacaste mountains and in the Térraba area. Other Guanacaste sites are possible. These breeders seem to move south after nesting.

When to see it

Large numbers pass through in autumn, from September to early November. It is sporadically common in spring migration, in March and April, and absent from mid-November to late March.

Similar birds

The Lesser Nighthawk is smaller, lighter and paler than the Common. Its pale wing bar sits nearer the wingtip than the shoulder. On Lessers the white spot looks more like a patch, and they have buff marks on the primaries.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

Besides the official Añapero Zumbón, Costa Rica's biodiversity atlas lists Añapero. Other Spanish names include añapero yanqui, añapero boreal, añapero migratorio, aguaitacamino común and chotacabras zumbón. The Lesser Nighthawk's local Costa Rican name is given as Gavilán.

Status and conservation

The official Costa Rican list rates it RR,M, a rare resident plus a migrant, while the IUCN Red List rates it Least Concern worldwide, though numbers are falling across its range.

Photography tips

Many nighthawks pass in huge numbers but are easy to miss, because people rarely look up at the right time. Watch the sky at dawn and dusk during migration, and on the Caribbean coast scan in daylight too.