Can you help me ID a bird of prey I keep seeing? I’ve never seen them up close, always from below as they’re high in the sky. They’re falcon-shaped, with narrow wings that give them sort of a boomerang profile, and long tails. Grey bodies, with a single white bar on each wing underside. They fly like swifts, swooping and wheeling like they’re playing, but look closer to falcon-sized. I see them in small groups sometimes, 2-5. I’m in Central Texas, and we get Mexican birds sometimes.

birdsbugsandbones:

G’day!

I’m not hugely familiar with North American birds, but what you’re describing doesn’t seem like any falcon or kite to me. Most probably, they are some kind of swift – which are larger then you might think, especially if they’re seen at distance. Have a look at the White-collared swift, it’s pretty large and mostly grey with paler primaries. The Cornell bird lab also has a great search feature – have a look at birds with similar body shapes here. You should be able to search by your local area too!

I’m sorry not to give you any better information. @falseredstart might be able to help better than I, they’re US based and bird mad!

Cheers,
-BB&B

Thanks for the help!

I found out what they are. I’d been focused on it being something like a falcon, so I was using the wrong search keywords. When I tried “swift bird with white bars on wings”, I found a Google image of a nighthawk that matched exactly.

They’re nighthawks!  I’m not sure what kind, I’m in the range of more than one species, but I’d guess Common by the color. I’m just glad to know what they are, it’s been bugging me. 

This also explains why I’ve never seen one perching. I probably have and didn’t realize it, they don’t look like soaring birds when they sit.