# Dropping A Low Flying Bird from a plane? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 8, 2006, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-a-low-flying-bird-from-a-plane/359970 "2006-06-08T22:47:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-a-low-flying-bird-from-a-plane/359970/21 "2006-06-09T16:00:49Z")
[QUOTE=Quercus] And on the food-not-on-the-ground category don’t some raptors (at least occasionally) feed on other birds, taking them in flight? [/QUOTE] That’s corrrect. This is particularly true of falcons, which not only pursue other birds but also insects and bats in the air. Some other raptors do it too. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-a-low-flying-bird-from-a-plane/359970/22 "2006-06-09T16:07:41Z")
[QUOTE=vetbridge] I’ve always heard them called “nighthawks”, nightjar is new to me, but google has a million “nightjars” and five million “nighthawks”, however many of the nighthawk hits are for aircraft, bands, etc. I will call them nightjars from now on.😉 [/QUOTE] Nighthawks are just one particular kind of nightjar. Besides the Common Nighthawk, which can often be seen flying over cities at dusk (especially if you know its distinctive call), other widespread North American nightjars include the Whip-poor-will, Chuck-will’s-widow, and Poor-will (all of which are named for their calls). Nightjars are also called goatsuckers, because of the myth that they suckle on goats at night. Both nighthawks and other nightjars typically take flying insects. However, nightjars fly around continuously looking for flying insects in the air, while most other nigthjars rest on the ground (sometimes in trees) and leap up to catch flying insects when they pass nearby. ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-a-low-flying-bird-from-a-plane/359970/23 "2006-06-09T16:10:40Z")
[QUOTE=Telemark] Arthur Carlson, actually. [/QUOTE] “As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.” “It’s a helicopter, and it’s coming this way. It’s flying something behind it, I can’t quite make it out, it’s a large banner and it says, uh - Happy… Thaaaaanksss… giving! … From … W … K … R… P!! No parachutes yet. Can’t be skydivers… I can’t tell just yet what they are, but - Oh my God, Johnny, they’re turkeys!! Johnny, can you get this? Oh, they’re plunging to the earth right in front of our eyes! One just went through the windshield of a parked car! Oh, the humanity! The turkeys are hitting the ground like sacks of wet cement! Not since the Hindenberg tragedy has there been anything like this!” ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-a-low-flying-bird-from-a-plane/359970/24 "2006-06-09T22:57:56Z")
> [@](#): > > Besides the Common Nighthawk, which can often be seen flying over cities at dusk Or down in the cities, in [lonely all-night diners](http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/hopper/street/hopper.nighthawks.jpg) 🙂 And there’s a family of peregrines that live in downtown Cleveland; I’ve heard that they feed primarily on the pigeons. The pigeons are faster, but the falcons are smarter, and use the terrain to their advantage. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-a-low-flying-bird-from-a-plane/359970.md?page=1)