Date: 4/9/26 10:13 pm From: Philip Unitt via groups.io <unitt...> Subject: [SanDiegoRegionBirding] Unusually early Lesser Nighthawk
Dear friends,
There have been a few San Diego County sightings of the Lesser Nighthawk in early March, but it has been unclear if these represent early spring migrants or wintering birds (there are a few scattered records of those). So it was notable that we received a specimen of the Lesser Nighthawk found barely able to fly at the 10th Ave. marine terminal in downtown San Diego on 7 March. It survived 16 days of attempted rehabilitation at Project Wildlife but ultimately died, and the specimen came to the San Diego Natural History Museum. Today Brandi Sanchez prepared the specimen, now catalog number 58600 in the museum's research collection of birds. The 10th Ave. marine terminal doesn't seem like a likely habitat for a Lesser Nighthawk to winter, so I infer this specimen represents an early migrant--the earliest yet confirmed in San Diego County. Congratulations to Brandi for her successful preparation of this difficult specimen as well as her recent master's degree from UCSD. And many thanks to Linda King for her over 20 years of service as liaison between the museum and Project Wildlife, ensuring that these notable specimens are preserved.
Also today I prepared our 5th specimen of the Burrowing Parrot, from National City.
Good birding,
Philip UnittSan Diego
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