Eastern Whip-poor-will

Fascinating facts about the Eastern Whip-poor-will

• The eastern whip-poor-will has suffered a dramatic population collapse, losing more than 60 % of its numbers between 1970 and 2014. This steep decline was uncovered by citizen-science surveys that tracked the bird across its North-American range. As a result, the species was uplisted in 2017 from least-concern to near-threatened on the IUCN Red List. Although still fairly common in some areas, the overall trend remains worrying.
• Eastern whip-poor-wills build shallow scrapes on the forest floor, usually hidden among dead leaves in shaded spots, and lay a clutch of two eggs. The adults remain motionless on the nest, only moving when a foot nearly steps on them, which makes the nest extremely hard to detect. Their mottled plumage provides excellent camouflage, so even during the breeding season they are rarely seen despite being common callers at night.
• While eastern whip-poor-wills are generally socially monogamous, an unusual observation recorded a male attending the nests of two different females at the same time. This behaviour was noted when one of the females had recently lost her previous mate, suggesting that the species can adjust its breeding strategy under certain circumstances.
• The whip-poor-will, once considered a single species, is now recognised as two distinct birds. The eastern whip-poor-will occupies the eastern United States and Canada, while the Mexican whip-poor-will lives in the southwestern United States and Mexico. Scientists separated them because each group has its own range, a unique song, different egg colours and clear DNA differences, showing a deep genetic split between the populations.
• At night the eastern whip-poor-will launches into swift, low-level flights to capture insects on the wing, taking moths, beetles and mosquitoes from the air. After a night of hunting it returns to the forest floor where it rests, usually hidden among dead leaves, and spends the daylight hours sleeping. Its diet is almost entirely composed of flying insects, which it catches by darting directly after them.

Sources

Every fact above was checked against these pages, and kept only where one of them states it.

• Wikipedia

At a glance

About the Eastern Whip-poor-will

In the twilight realms of North America's forests, the Eastern Whip-poor-will embodies the essence of nocturnal elegance, its mottled plumage blending seamlessly with the dappled shadows as it flits through the underbrush with an ethereal silence. With wings beating in a soft, hypnotic rhythm, this nocturnal hunter navigates the darkness with an uncanny precision, its large, round eyes drinking in the faint moonlight as it pursues the insects that dance in the warm summer air. As its haunting, whiplash-like call echoes through the trees, the Whip-poor-will weaves a spell of mystery and enchantment, a true master of the night's dark magic.

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