Lesser Nighthawk was added to the Review List on 11 March 1989. The map, date chart, and records below pertain only to LBRC-accepted records. There are >30 LBRC-accepted Lesser Nighthawk records as of July 2019.
One adult male (1998-047) on 8 April 1998, Gulf of Mexico: 138 mi. S Cameron, Garden Banks 189 A oil platform,N27.778611o W93.309444o; Laurence C. Binford.
One male (1999-045) on 31 March 1999, Gulf of Mexico: 77 mi. S Pecan Island, Vermilion 265A oil
platform, N28.512500 o, W92.451111o;
B. Mac Myers III (ph).
Photo by B. Mac Myers III
One immature male (1999-98) on 26-28 Oct 1999, Gulf of Mexico: Green Canyon 18A oil platform, 110 mi. S of Morgan City, 27o 51’ 37” N, 91 o 01’ 45” W; Marshall J. Iliff; NAB 54(1): 63. Month erroneously noted as Nov in the NAB reference. The observer captured the bird by hand (28 Oct) and photocopied the living bird’s wings and tail to provide additional supporting documentation (the bird was then released unharmed).
One male (2000-028) on 15 March 2000, Gulf of Mexico: 77 mi. S Pecan Island, Vermilion 265 oil platform, 28o 30’ 45” N, 92o 27’ 04” W; Richard L. (Rick) Knight (ph).
One male (2000-95) on 3 Apr 2000, Gulf of Mexico: 138 mi. S of Cameron, Garden Banks 189A oil platform, 27o46'43²N, 93o18'34²W; Jon R. King (LSUMZ 176320, Donna L. Dittmann*).
One (2000-099; incorrectly numbered 2000-98 in 2010 Newsletter) on 18 April 2000, Cameron: Hwy.
82 approximately 2 mi. W Holly Beach; Jonathan L.
Dunn (LSUMZ/DLD 9565; feathers only, ph).
Feathers removed and saved from carcass found on
highway.
Photo by Donna L. Dittmann from the Newsletter of the LBRC 2010 Annual Report
One immature male (2003-015) on 25 October 2003, Cameron: town of Holly Beach;
B. Mac Myers III,
David P. Muth,
Phillip Wallace
, and
Robert D. Purrington (ph only).
Photo by Robert D. Purrington
One 1st basic female (2004-47) on 30 Oct 2004, Cameron: Peveto Beach Woods;
Paul E.
Conover and
Dave Patton
(ph). Originally found by Phred M. Benham.
Photo by Dave Patton
One 1st basic male (2004-64) on 31 Oct 2004, Cameron: Peveto Beach Woods; Donna L. Dittmann (ph) and Steven W. Cardiff. This and the preceding record reported in NAB59(1):92.
One male (2007-77) on 22 November 2007,
Cameron: Hwy. 27 at First Bayou, approx. 1 ½ mi. N Holly
Beach;
Devin Bosler
(ph).
Photo by Devin Bosler
One male (2009-45) on 11 April 2009, Cameron:
Johnsons Bayou, Peveto Beach Woods, BRAS Sanctuary;
Gary Broussard
(ph).
Photo by Gary Broussard
One female (2009-73) (ph), on 17 October 2009,
Cameron: Oak Grove, Oak Grove Sanctuary;
Paul E.
Conover
(ph) and
Lainie LaHaye
(ph).
Photo by Paul Conover
One female (2010-67) on 24 April 2010, Cameron: approximately 5 mi. W old mouth Mermentau River (Rutherford Beach), 29.7738o N, 93.1943o W Donna L. Dittmann (DLD 9961) and Steven W. Cardiff (LSUMZ).
One female (2010-70) on 24 April 2010, Cameron: approximately 5 1/2 mi. W old mouth Mermentau River (Rutherford Beach); Donna L. Dittmann (ph; DLD 9962) and Steven W. Cardiff (LSUMZ).
Up to four (one male, three females, 2010-18) on
24-26 April 2010, Cameron: Peveto Beach Woods, BRAS
Sanctuary;
Paul E. Conover
(ph),
Jeffrey W. Harris
(ph),
Thomas Finnie
(ph), and
Dave Patton
(ph only),
and Jay V. Huner (card only).
Photo by Paul Conover
One adult female (2010-49) banded on 25 April
2010, Cameron: Johnsons Bayou;
T. J. Zenzal
(ph).
Photo by T. J. Zenzal
One female (2010-27) on 1 May 2010, Cameron:
Johnsons Bayou, Peveto Beach Woods, BRAS Sanctuary;
Thomas Finnie
(ph), and
Thomas Maddox
(ph).
This may pertain to one of females observed on 25 April.
Photo by Thomas Maddox
One (2011-145) on 20 April 2011, Cameron: Willow Island, approximately 6 mi. E Cameron;
Devin Bosler
(ph).
Photo by Devin Bosler
One female (2011-014) on 28 April 2011, Cameron:
Peveto Woods Sanctuary;
Paul E. Conover
(ph),
Erik I.
Johnson
(ph),
Devin Bosler
(ph), and Tom Finnie
(photos only).
Photo by Tom Finnie
One female (2012-130) on 6 April 2012, Cameron: Peveto Woods Sanctuary;
Paul E. Conover
(ph).
Photo by Paul E. Conover
One male (2013-022) on 1 April 2013, Cameron: Johnsons Bayou, Peveto Woods Sanctuary;
Paul E. Conover
(ph).
Photo by Paul Conover
One male (2013-033) on 11 May 2013, Cameron: Johnsons Bayou, Peveto Woods Sanctuary;
Paul E. Conover
(ph).
Photo by Paul Conover
One (2013-045) on 20 November 2013, Lafourche: beach W of mouth Bayou Lafourche at Belle Pass;
Dan O’Malley
(ph).
Photo by Dan O'Malley
One female (2014-044) on 15 April 2014, Cameron: Johnsons Bayou, Peveto Woods Sanctuary;
Billy Jones
(ph),
Robert C. Dobbs
(ph), Matt Brady
(ph only), Molly Richard
(ph only), and Michael J. Musumeche
(ph only).
Photo by Michael J. Musumeche
One female (2014-078) on 18 & 22 April 2014, Cameron: Johnsons Bayou, Peveto Woods Sanctuary;
Paul E. Conover
(ph).
Photo by Paul E. Conover
One (2014-109) on 16 November 2014, Cameron: Johnsons Bayou, Peveto Woods Sanctuary;
Dave Patton
(ph).
Photo by Dave Patton
One male (2017-021) on 30 April 2017, Cameron: Johnsons Bayou, Peveto Woods Sanctuary;
Paul E. Conover (ph),
Erik Enbody (ph), and
Brad Price (ph only).
Photo by Paul E. Conover
Two, including one female (2017-022), on 4-7 May 2017, Cameron: Johnsons Bayou, Peveto Woods
Sanctuary;
Thomas Finnie (ph),
Paul E. Conover (ph), and
J. V. Remsen
(ph only).
Photo by Paul E. Conover
One male (2017-015) on 8 April 2017, Jefferson: Grand Isle, TNC Grilletta Tract;
Ned Coleman (letter, ph)
,
Jon Wise
(ph only)
, and Casey Wright
(ph only)
.
Photo by Casey Wright
One male (2018-032) on 26 March 2018, Terrebonne: Isles Dernieres, Whiskey Island;
Robert C. Dobbs (ph)
.
Photo by Robert C. Dobbs
One male (2018-096) on 11 December 2018, Lafourche: Fourchon area – Beach (restricted access; eBird ph only). Photos: https://ebird.org/checklist/S50604778.
One male (2019-022) on 13 April 2019, Cameron: Johnsons Bayou, Peveto Woods Sanctuary; Paul E. Conover
(ph).
Photo by Paul Conover
One female (2019-085) on 28 April 2019, Cameron: Rutherford Beach (eBird ph only). Photos: https://ebird.org/ checklist/S55601776.
One (2021-009) on 6 January 2021, Vermilion: Abbeville, 7075 Chester Rd., N29.922771, W92.090337; Jamie B. Webb
(ph; https://ebird.org/checklist/S78807460).
Stills of video by Jamie B. Webb
One male (2021-032) on 1 May 2021, Cameron: Willow Island, 7 mi. E Cameron; Paul E. Conover (ph) and Gary
Broussard (ph only; https://ebird.org/checklist/S86966103).
Photo by Gary Broussard
One male (2021-033) on 1 May 2021, Cameron: Willow Island, 7 mi. E Cameron; Paul E. Conover (ph). Photos
and explanation of circumstances confirmed that this was a different bird from 2021-032.
Photo by Paul Conover
eBird lists with photos for the above two Willow Island birds (2021-032 and 2021-033) are at https://ebird.org/checklist/S86966131. Possibly one of these same birds was present to 2 May (https://ebird.org/checklist/S86957181).
One male (2021-050) on 1 May 2021, Cameron: Johnsons Bayou, Baton Rouge Audubon Society Peveto Woods
Sanctuary; Paul E. Conover (ph; https://ebird.org/checklist/S86839352).
Photo by Paul Conover
One male (2022-004) on 27-28 January 2022, East Baton Rouge, Baton Rouge, “Teller Estate” along River Rd. between Richfield Riversilt and Ben Hur Rd.; Daniel. F. Lane (ph). Reportedly found on 26 January by Robb T. Brumfield (https:// ebird.org/checklist/S101508546).
Photo by Dan Lane
One male (2022-014) on 9 April 2022, Cameron: Willow Island, 7 mi. E Cameron; Paul E. Conover (ph).
Photo by Paul Conover
One bird (1988-77; formerly 89-81) on 17 Dec. 1988, Cameron: East Jetty Woods, 2 mi. S of Cameron (AB 43(2):326). Due to the very brief observation time (approx. 7 seconds) and poor light (observation at dusk), most Members believed that this record was best left as "nighthawk, sp.," despite the experience and expertise of the observer.
One bird (89-87) on 11 Dec. 1988, Plaquemines: Fort Jackson. Two of three observers submitted reports. The descriptions were very brief and did not eliminate Common or Antillean nighthawks to the satisfaction of the majority of Committee Members.
One (1997-82) on 27 Apr 1997, Cameron: Peveto Beach Woods. Although the date is within the established pattern of spring occurrence of Lesser Nighthawk, the observers were relatively inexperienced and a buffy-colored Common Nighthawk was not satisfactorily eliminated.
One adult (1995-60) on 23 April 1995, Cameron: W of Holly Beach at Fina lease. The observer reported the primary basis for this identification was that the bird was “buffy.” Although this individual may have been correctly identified, the description was too brief, leaving too much to Members’ imaginations to fill in the gaps. Lesser Nighthawk presents an under-appreciated identification problem. The reporter indicated that others may have obtained photos and we welcome these for a recirculation.
One (2000-023) on 23 April 2000, Gulf of Mexico: 77 mi. S Pecan Island, Vermilion 265 oil platform, 28o 30” 45” N, 92o 27’ 04” W. Most Members did not believe that the details were adequate to identify this species.
One (2001-041) on 29 December 2001, Plaquemines: Venice. The observers were experienced, but most Members agreed that the bird could not be studied well-enough during a brief fly-by observation at dusk. This record was published as 2002-096 based on a date of 29 December 2002 provided by the submitting observer. The correct date is 29 December 2001, which is corroborated by a 3 X 5 card by another observer present. Both dates were logged in with separate LBRC numbers; the correct date is logged into the LBRC roster as 2001-041 the record will assume that ID number.
One (2010-099) on 4 December 2010, St. Charles: Bonnet Carre Spillway. The early winter date may be more suggestive of this species, and perhaps this bird was correctly identified. However, no definitive characters were observed.
One (2011-114) on 17 July 2011, Calcasieu: Fabacher Road. Photographs confirmed that the bird was actually a juvenile Common Nighthawk.
One male (2013-081) on 6 October 2013, Cameron: Peveto Woods Sanctuary. This was a brief observation of a bird seen only in flight. The submitting observer, who is also a Committee Member and who is very experienced with the species, submitted the report primarily so that it would be archived. He ultimately voted against his own report stating that, although he believed that the identification was likely correct, he agreed with other Members that the brevity of the observation and resulting limited detail did not warrant acceptance.
One (2016-044) on 15 April 2016, Jefferson: Grand Isle, Exxon Fields along Hwy. 1 at the TNC Office, N29.248°, W89.968°. This sighting involved a brief fly-by without the aid of binoculars. All Members ultimately agreed that the circumstances did not warrant acceptance.
