Voice of the Wild

This is Illinois Extension’s Voice of the Wild. Our birdsong will start in five seconds, so find someplace quiet, take a deep breath, and enjoy.

An erratic flight and Narrow angular wings tipped with white bands, give this bird a rather boomerang-like appearance. While it can be found foraging over its native habitats; marshes, ponds, and prairies, you’re more likely to hear its distinctive “peent” when heading downtown for a dinner with friends. That’s because this bird has an affinity for the evening city skyline. The bright city lights draw in plenty of insects for it to catch with its enormous mouth and it finds places to nest on the gravel roofs of apartments and hotels. This bird can make a booming sound with its wings, which i’ll play now, but it is far less commonly heard than its call.

This is the Common Nighthawk, Chordeiles minor from the nightjar family Caprimulgidae. Here’s the nighthawk’s nasal sounding peent again.

Thank you to the Macaulay library at the Cornell lab for our bird sounds and thank you for tuning in to learn a new bird call with Illinois Extension.