Posted by Charlie Baugh on December 8, 2012 at 2:38 PM
I have no idea why, but this bird from my childhood in Pennsylvania came to mind. Has any one ever seen one? Have photos of them? Know anything about them?
The link below has significant information about this unusual bird. I have vivid memory of the distinctly unique sound of the "whip-poor-will" and am fascinated now.
I hope some of you have experiences that you will relate.
Posted by Barry Southon on December 9, 2012 at 7:44 AM
Hi Charlie
A reply from over the pond if I may. My wife and I have been so very fortunate to have connections in Kansas visiting two or three times a year. We have been introduced to many birders with a wealth of knowledge that they readily share they are our very good friends.
To cut a long story short our house was along side fifty acres of woodland and every year we were treated to the sound of the "Whip-poor-wills call" heard but not seen so many times. Bad light, night time, my excuses. Most elusive in the extreme until I communicated with the bird using recorded calls and yes just once it flew within sight and sat perched on a rail, along the rail not across it. Not wishing to confuse the bird or distress it I never used the call again. My fleeting encounter was reward enough. I was so surprised to see it I was not quick enough to use the camera.
I drew a comparison with the Nightjar purely due to the manner in which it perched although I was probably incorrect to do so.
Yes indeed one unique species.
Posted by Dan Roberts on December 9, 2012 at 12:14 PM
I grew up in rural South Carolina where whippoorwills were prolific. My father called them southern nightingales. When I was young was an avid hunter (which is how I got into photography) and was pretty good at mimicking bird and animal calls. The whippoorwill is a fairly easy call to mimic by simply whistling and they come to the call very well.
Whippoorwills feed on flying insects much like swallows but they feed at night. They have a wide mouth surrounded by whiskers, presumably to help catch insects. Many people who see them flying at night mistake them for bats. If you are around one when it's feeding this strange bird seems even stranger. When they dive after a bug they make an odd buzzing sound. I've always assumed it was their whiskers vibrating due to the high speed when diving but I don't know that for a fact.
Where we lived there were a lot of dirt roads in wooded areas. It was not uncommon when driving this type of road at night to come upon a whippoorwill sitting in the middle of the road. They would just sit there if you stopped the vehicle. I was told by old timers that if you found one on a tree branch that you could just pick them up. So of course when I found them in the road I tried it a time or two but they always flew away. When walking in the woods at night you would come upon one sitting on the ground every once in a while and they would fly up and give you quite a fright.
The call of the whippoorwill was an integral part of the southern night and is a very nostalgic sound for me.
Posted by Charlie Baugh on December 9, 2012 at 1:07 PM
This is wonderful to have two responses from people that have seen this bird. I've posted to two other groups and no one in those groups have seen one, though it seems anyone who has heard them remembers it well. I have an early 20th century book by ornithologists that has three pages of text about whip-poor-wills and one thing that is covered, is that this bird apparently has great confidence in it's ability to remain unseen and does in fact allow very close approach before taking flight. Many of us who lived close to these may have been very close but not recognized the bird.
By the way Barry, I understand that this bird is a part of the same family as your Nightjar.
West central IL, here yes we have them here I used to live in an old farm house surrounded by timber at night in the Summer they would make enough noise they would wake me up. Iwill have to see if I can catch up to one next year. They are not a bright showy bird and more active at evening and night, usually hear them and see the Night hawk. They tend to be nore common in Southern part of the state.
Discussion
4 repliesThe link below has significant information about this unusual bird. I have vivid memory of the distinctly unique sound of the "whip-poor-will" and am fascinated now.
I hope some of you have experiences that you will relate.
Charlie
http://www.theearthconnection.org/blog/2010/06/the-whip-poor-will/
A reply from over the pond if I may. My wife and I have been so very fortunate to have connections in Kansas visiting two or three times a year. We have been introduced to many birders with a wealth of knowledge that they readily share they are our very good friends.
To cut a long story short our house was along side fifty acres of woodland and every year we were treated to the sound of the "Whip-poor-wills call" heard but not seen so many times. Bad light, night time, my excuses. Most elusive in the extreme until I communicated with the bird using recorded calls and yes just once it flew within sight and sat perched on a rail, along the rail not across it. Not wishing to confuse the bird or distress it I never used the call again. My fleeting encounter was reward enough. I was so surprised to see it I was not quick enough to use the camera.
I drew a comparison with the Nightjar purely due to the manner in which it perched although I was probably incorrect to do so.
Yes indeed one unique species.
Whippoorwills feed on flying insects much like swallows but they feed at night. They have a wide mouth surrounded by whiskers, presumably to help catch insects. Many people who see them flying at night mistake them for bats. If you are around one when it's feeding this strange bird seems even stranger. When they dive after a bug they make an odd buzzing sound. I've always assumed it was their whiskers vibrating due to the high speed when diving but I don't know that for a fact.
Where we lived there were a lot of dirt roads in wooded areas. It was not uncommon when driving this type of road at night to come upon a whippoorwill sitting in the middle of the road. They would just sit there if you stopped the vehicle. I was told by old timers that if you found one on a tree branch that you could just pick them up. So of course when I found them in the road I tried it a time or two but they always flew away. When walking in the woods at night you would come upon one sitting on the ground every once in a while and they would fly up and give you quite a fright.
The call of the whippoorwill was an integral part of the southern night and is a very nostalgic sound for me.
By the way Barry, I understand that this bird is a part of the same family as your Nightjar.