The Eastern Whip-poor-will (Antrostomus vociferus) is often heard but seldom observed due to its camouflage plumage.
It sings its name on summer nights from moist, leafy woodlands. By day, this bird sleeps on the forest floor, or on a log or downed branch.
The Kentucky State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP) rates the species as a moderate priority, citing threats including ecosystem modifications, issues related to intensive agriculture, and invasive, non-native plants and animals. In Kentucky it is most often found in semi-open areas in the western counties, east of the Purchase Region, and throughout the outer Bluegrass.
The Whip-poor-will, a member of the nightjar family, Caprimulgidae, is a medium-sized bird about 9 1/2 inches in length, with a wingspan of about 18 1/2 inches, and weighs on average about 3 ounces.
Adults have mottled plumage: the upperparts are grey, black and brown; the lower parts are grey and black. They have a very short bill and a black throat. Males have a white patch below the throat and white tips on the outer tail feathers, most visible in flight. The tail feathers of the female are light brown.
Range
The range of the Whip-poor-will is in the eastern Lower 48 states from Minnesota south to Missouri, east to northern Georgia and South Carolina, up the Atlantic Coast to Maine, and westward across the Great Lakes states.
Breeding birds depart Kentucky in late summer or early fall, wintering in Florida, and along the Gulf Coast. Some birds from states south of Kentucky overwinter as far south as northern Mexico.
Feeding behavior and diet
The Whip-poor-will forages at night, especially at dusk and dawn and on moonlit nights, flying out from a perch in a tree, or in a low, continuous flight along the edges of woods and clearings, sometimes fluttering up from the ground. It captures prey in its wide, gaping mouth.
Its diet is composed of flying insects, especially moths, beetles, and mosquitoes. Prey is swallowed whole.
Courtship and nesting
Whip-poor-wills arrive back to their breeding grounds in Kentucky by mid-April.
The male sings at night to defend territory and to attract a mate, approaching potential mates with head-bobbing and bowing as he walks across the ground.
Nesting activity is often timed so that adults are feeding young primarily on nights when the moon is more than half full, when moonlight makes foraging easier for them.
The nest site is on ground, in shady woods but often near the edge of a clearing. No nest is built, eggs are simply laid on open soil covered with dead leaves. Females typically lay two eggs that are white with gray and brown specks.
Most eggs are hatched by late June and young are on the wing by early July.
