Menu
- Cool Facts
- Description
- Similar Species
- Sound
- Range
- Habitat
- Food
- Behavior
- Reproduction
- Conservation Status
- Other Names
Because of its nocturnal habits, the Whip-poor-will is infrequently seen. Its cryptic coloring keeps it hidden during the day, too. However, its loud calling at dusk makes it well known wherever it breeds.
Cool Facts
Chicks can move about during the nestling stage, and they often move a bit apart, perhaps to make it difficult for a predator to find them. The parent aids this process by forcibly shoving aside one of the young with its foot as it flushes from the nest. The nestling may be sent tumbling head over heels by the shove.
- The male Whip-poor-will often will investigate intruders near the nest by hovering in place with its body nearly vertical and its tail spread wide to show off the broad white tips of the tail feathers.
- The western populations of the Whip-poor-will differ slightly in plumage from the eastern form, and sometimes are considered a different species (the Mexican Whip-poor-will). Their songs are slower and lower pitched, and their eggs are whiter and less highly colored.
- The Whip-poor-will lays its eggs in phase with the lunar cycle, so that the eggs hatch on average 10 days before a full moon. When the moon is near full the adults can forage the entire night, and so best provide the nestlings with insects.
Description
- Size: 22-26 cm (9-10 in)
- Wingspan: 45-48 cm (18-19 in)
- Weight: 43-64 g (1.52-2.26 ounces)
- Medium-sized nightjar.
- Large-headed with a tiny bill.
- Very well camouflaged, colored in browns, black, and gray.
- Plumage grayish brown streaked with blackish brown.
- Broad blackish stripes on crown.
- Belly barred buff brown, blackish brown at top of breast.
- Throat black.
- Band of white on lower throat.
- Grayish stripe on both sides of back.
- Wings rounded.
- Tail rounded.
- Large eyes; eyelashes on lids.
- Tiny legs and feet.
Sex Differences
Sexes similar, but male has white tips to tail, female's tail tips are buff.
Male
Outer three tail feathers have broad white tips.
Female
Outer three tail feathers have narrow buffy tips.
Immature
Immature similar to adult.
Similar Species
- Chuck-will's-widow is larger, rich brown overall, and has brown throat. Common Pauraque has longer tail and white patches in the wings in flight.
- Common Poorwill has shorter tail and is more gray without brown.
- Buff-collared Nightjar has paler upperparts and a broader, more distinct tawny collar around the nape.
- Nighthawks have smaller head and longer, pointed wings, white patches in the wings, and notched tails.
Sound
Song an emphatic "Whip-poor-will," with the accent and the first and third syllables and a tremolo in the second. Call note a short, quiet "quirt." Claps wings to defend territory.
»listen to songs of this species
Range
Range Map
© 2003 Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Summer Range
Breeds locally from central Canada eastward to Atlantic coast and southward to Oklahoma and Georgia. Also in scattered localities in Southwest and southward into Central America.
Winter Range
Winters along southeastern United States and into Central America.
Habitat
- Breeds in deciduous or mixed forests with little or no underbrush.
- Winters in mixed woods near open areas.
Food
Insects, especially moths and beetles.
Behavior
Foraging
Forages at dusk, dawn, and moonlit periods of night. Catches flying insects.
Reproduction
Nest Type
No nest made. Lays eggs on leaf litter.
Egg Description
Cream-colored with darker spots or blotches.
Clutch Size
2 eggs.
Condition at Hatching
Downy, can move around.
Conservation Status
Considered declining in some areas; good data lacking because of the difficulty in censusing this bird.
Other Names
Engoulevent bois-pourri (French)
Tapacamino cuerporruín-norteño (Spanish)
Sources used to construct this page:
Cink, C. L. 2002. Whip-poor-will (Caprimulgus vociferus). In The Birds of North America, No. 620 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.
;){kind=small}
;){kind=small}
