Common Name: Eastern Whip-poor-will.

Scientific Name: Antrostomus vociferus.

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What to look for?  Sightings are rare, but if you are fortunate (Photo to right is Audubon Field Guide), here is what you may see. Eastern Whip-poor-wills are medium-sized birds with a large, rounded head and stout chest tapering to a long tail and wings, giving them a front-heavy look. Their gray and brown mottling provides excellent camouflage against leaf litter or tree bark. They have a blackish throat with a white bib. Males feature white tail corners, while females have dull, buff spots. Notable features include large eyes, small bill, whisker-like bristles around the mouth, and a gray line of feathers on the back.

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Where can they be found at Carillon Stonegate Pond? Sightings are extremely rare; especially because they are nocturnal. You may hear its distinctive call before you see one.

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How big are they? The Eastern Whip-poor-will averages around ten (10) inches in length. And their wingspan is approximately nineteen (19) inches. They weigh approximately two (2) ounces.

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What are their flight patterns? In flight, Eastern Whip poor-wills are slow and silent, appearing moth-like, often hovering and flying erratically in pursuit of flying insects. Their broad wings and large tails contribute to a buoyant, maneuverable flight. Its soft feathering lets a whip-poor-will fly almost as quietly as an owl and helps the bird intercept moths, many of which can detect sounds of potential predators.

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How else do they behave? Eastern Whip-poor-wills are nocturnal birds with loud, distinctive voices. At night they fly slowly and silently, often wheeling around 180 degrees in between wing flaps. When nesting or roosting, whip-poor-wills spend the day sitting motionless, becoming active only at dusk. They can fly nearly vertically when chasing insects. They usually forage in the semidarkness of early morning and early evening, but on moonlit nights they chase moths and beetles all night long. The male establishes and maintains his territory by calling along the perimeter and by chasing off intruders while making aggressive calls and hisses, with raised wings and mouth open. Males and females feign injury to lead predators away from the nest. Whip-poor-wills are generally solitary, forming loose flocks during migration. Eastern Whip-poor-wills are strictly nocturnal. At night they rest on the ground or perch horizontally on low trees and fly up to catch moths and other aerial insects. They chant their loud, namesake whip-poor-will song continuously on spring and summer evenings. During the day, Eastern Whip-poor-wills roost on the ground or on a tree limb and are very difficult to spot.

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What’s for dinner? Eastern Whip-poor-wills feed exclusively on insects such as moths, beetles, grasshoppers, ants, bees, and wasps.

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Where do they take up residence? Eastern Whip-poor-wills breed in dry deciduous or evergreen-deciduous forests with minimal underbrush, near open areas. They favor forests like pine-oak with juniper, pine plantations, northern hardwoods, low-elevation white pine, oak, aspen, birch, and scrubby woodlands. They avoid dense, uninterrupted forests. Their migration habitat mirrors breeding sites. In winter, they prefer broadleaf tropical or subtropical forests near open spaces. Look for them in eastern forests with open understories, both deciduous and mixed, often in sandy soil areas.

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When and where do they breed and nest? The female Eastern Whip-poor-will lays her eggs directly on the forest floor, often on the north or northeast side of a plant for shade. Occasionally, they nest on bare ground, sand, or decayed wood. It's unknown if males or females choose the site. They do not build nests; the weight of the incubating adult can create a slight hollow in the leaf litter. Despite no nest material, their camouflage makes eggs, nestlings, and adults hard to see. The average clutch size is two eggs, with a three-week incubation period and one-week nesting period.

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Where do they migrate? Many spend winter in the southeastern states. Others migrate to Central America, with a few in the West Indies. Eastern Whip-poor-wills migrate to Mexico and Central America for the winter, mainly traveling over land. They arrive at breeding grounds between late March and mid-May. They leave around early September to late November, often forming loose flocks while migrating.

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What is their conservation status? Eastern Whip-poor-wills are common, but their population declined by nearly 61% over past fifty years, according to the North American Breeding Bird Survey. Partners in Flight estimates a global breeding population of 1.8 million and gives them a high concern score of 14 out of 20 due to significant declines and threats. The main issue they face is the loss of open-understory forests caused by forest conversion, urbanization, or fire suppression. Accurate counts of this nocturnal species are hard to gather through daytime surveys, but contributions can be made via the Nightjar Survey Network.

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Do they make any interesting sounds? Eastern Whip-poor-wills are more often heard rather than seen. The male’s emphatic, chanted whip-poor-will, sometimes repeated for hours on end, is a classic sound of warm summer nights. The call is unmistakable: a rapidly whistled three-note phrase, “Whip-poor-will,” with an emphasis on the first and third notes. The whip-poor-will is named for the male’s repetitive nocturnal calling. The whip is sharp, the poor falls away, and the will, the highest note in the sequence, is a bullwhip snapping in the night. The call carries about half a mile. Here is a link to the sounds of the Eastern Whip-poor-will.

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Interesting Facts About the Eastern Whip-poor-will:

• Eastern Whip-poor-wills lay their eggs in phase with the lunar cycle, so that they hatch on average 10 days before a full moon.

• Eastern Whip-poor-will chicks move around as nestlings, making it difficult for predators to rob the nest.

• The male Eastern Whip-poor-will often will investigate intruders near the nest by hovering in place with his body nearly vertical and his tail spread wide, showing off the broad white tips of the tail feathers.

• Eastern and Mexican Whip-poor-wills used to be considered one species, but in 2010 they were split into two species.

• The Eastern Whip-poor-will may locate insects by seeing the bugs’ silhouettes against the sky because its eyes have a reflective structure behind the retina that is probably an adaptation to low light conditions.

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For more information on the Eastern Whip-poor-will and sources of information used in this blog (these are the sources that I am using to learn as I blog), please visit All About Birds, and Audubon Society.  And the Cornell Lab of Ornithology provides a wonderful source of information for anyone interested in learning more about birds.

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The Carillon at Stonegate community is very fortunate to have a variety of wetland, forest and prairie environments conducive to a variety of birds and other wildlife, plants and insects. Our community and the Kane County Forest Preserve do an exceptional job in maintaining this natural environment – both for the benefit of the birds and wildlife and for our residents to enjoy.

 

Take a hike and see what you can find – and identify!