Can We Help the Common Nighthawk?
The river and the skies above it came to life Thursday night at the kick off of Friends’ Happy Hour Speaker Series at the McCormick Bridgehouse & Chicago River Museum dedicated to the Common Nighthawk.
Gathering on the museum’s Riverwalk plaza, participants learned about the critical work to protect the Common Nighthawk – one of the fastest disappearing birds in North America – from a special exploration of the Chicago Nighthawk Project from Edward Warden, community program director of The Nature Conservancy.
The Chicago Nighthawk Project is a volunteer monitoring program designed to track, study, and conserve the Common Nighthawk that uses monitoring protocols developed by the Chicago Ornithological Society that they adapted from similar survey methods for monitoring nightjars. The goal is to capture data on nighthawks and help answer important questions about what they need to survive and thrive in the metropolitan area. This is the first step of a long-term project to make Chicago a haven for these special creatures.
Native to our region, Common Nighthawks have flown our skies for an estimated 400,000 years, have one the longest migration routes of any North American bird, and can be recognized by their distinct shape and call in the sky at dusk at dawn.
Friends’ speaker series will take place every other Thursday from 5:15 to 6:15 p.m. through September on the museum's outdoor plaza. The series is free and open to the public, and donations to Friends of the Chicago River are encouraged to support the Bridgehouse Museum programming.
July 10 is the next Happy Hour Speakers Series event which will be presented by The Otter Society, Friends’ premier giving group, and will feature Chris Anchor, senior wildlife biologist of the Forest Preserves of Cook County, who will discuss otters and the wildlife of the Chicago-Calumet River watershed. The event will celebrate Friends’ Executive Director Margaret Frisbie’s 25th anniversary with Friends.
Visit our website to learn more about upcoming topics and featured speakers. Special thanks to our sponsors Goose Island Beer Co., and the Fletcher Family for making this special series possible.
Guided tours of the Bridgehouse Museum are available at 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday. The Bridgehouse Museum is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. Call (312) 977-0227 to reserve a Bridgehouse Museum tour.
