On April 25, 1832, John James Audubon and the crew aboard the cutter Marion were sailing between the upper and lower Matecumbe Keys of Florida. For protection against an approaching storm, the captain of Marion, Robert Day, directed the ship in the direction of Indian Key. While racing to beat the storm, Audubon spotted overhead two Night Hawks (present-day Common nighthawk) in flight. And then, right before his eyes, a lightning bolt struck the birds and sent them plopping like frying pans into the sea. Day allowed Audubon to recover the birds only “to discover the least appearance of injury on the feathers or in the internal parts.” If there was ever a quick and painless way to leave this world, a lightning strike might be the way to go.
During the daytime in the spring and summer, Audubon frequently saw the Common nighthawk alive and well, which prompted him to question the appropriateness of the bird being called a “Night hawk.” Nevertheless, “Their migrations are carried on over so great an extent, and that so loosely, that you might conceive it their desire to glean the whole country, as they advance with a front extending from the mouths of the Mississippi to the Rocky Mountains.” Urban sprawl and fewer insects to glean due to monoculture, pesticides, and insecticides have weakened the front of Common nighthawks and made their sightings not much greater than watching lightning take birds out of the sky.