Data for the Big Boom Theory: the Common Nighthawk wing-boom display delineates exclusive nesting territories

Understanding the functional significance of bird sounds can provide valuable insight into behavior and how birds use habitat. We show that the Common Nighthawk wing-boom display is a territorial signal associated with the nest location that can be used to identify territorial habitat use. In other words, the Common Nighthawk wing-boom display can be considered analogous to song due to its potential function in territoriality. We captured, tagged, and tracked 21 male Common Nighthawks in northeastern Alberta to confirm the functional significance of the wing-boom display and describe Common Nighthawk territoriality. Mean wing-boom use density (hereafter “area\") size was 10.2 ha (SD=11.7 ha). We found minimal overlap in wing-boom area (5 of 15 neighboring male pairs, 0.2%-4.5% overlap), suggesting the wing-boom display represents an exclusive territory. Comparison of wing-boom locations and random points within the wing-boom area confirmed that male Common Nighthawks select areas near th...