Project Nighthawk volunteer training
The call of the Common Nighthawk (Chordeiles minor) was once a familiar evening sound in cities throughout New Hampshire, where the acrobatic birds nested on flat, peastone gravel roofs and fed on insects attracted to city lights. In recent years, however, nesting nighthawks have disappeared from many New Hampshire towns; in the very few places where they remain (including Keene), their numbers have dramatically declined. To assess the status of Keene’s breeding nighthawk population, the Harris Center and New Hampshire Audubon are once again coordinating volunteer nighthawk surveys on summer evenings in Keene. On the heels of last year’s exciting confirmation of a successful nighthawk nest on a rooftop at Keene State College, this summer’s monitoring may also include opportunities for observing nesting behavior! Join us for this training to become a Project Nighthawk volunteer, or simply to learn more about this charismatic endangered bird. We’ll begin indoors in the Keene State College Science Center (Room 126), then venture outside to look and listen for nighthawks in the twilight sky.
For more information, contact Brett Amy Thelen at thelen@harriscenter.org or (603) 358-2065.
Co-sponsored by the Harris Center for Conservation Education, New Hampshire Audubon, and the Keene State College School of Sciences.
To request accommodations for a disability, please contact the coordinator at least two weeks prior to the event.
