Photo by Frontenac Arch Biosphere
This is a bird named for the sound it makes. Its song is a loud "Whip-poor-will" (clear and mellow in eastern birds particularly, with accent on the first and last syllables).
Its overall range is lower eastern Canada and most of the eastern US. It is uncommon to fairly common, but local and declining in coniferous and mixed woodlands in the east.
Whip-poor-wills are mottled gray/brown overall, wings are rounded, tail long and rounded.
While best located and identified by it distinctive call, it is hard to see because it often sits on the ground or on a long branch. Its pattern closely resembles the leaf litter of the wood lots it prefers.
These birds have rounded wings which when folded do not reach the tip of the tail.
Males are similar to females, but their their throats are bordered with white and their tail have large white patches.
Obviously, the bird's call is a loud, clear "Whip-Poor-Will". Kenn Kaufman, in his 'Birds of North America', describes the voice as 'a rolling chant:"whip, prrr WEEL"!
Whip-poor-wills have declined in the east in recent decades due to habitat loss caused by forest fragmentation and development.
The species is federally protected in the U.S.A.
Please comment if you wish.
BarrytheBirder
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