The eastern whip-poor-will (Antrostomus vociferus; also called "whip-o-will", "whip o' will", etc.) is a medium-sized (22–27 cm or 8.7–10.6 in) bird within the nightjar family, Caprimulgidae, from North America.

Eastern Whip-poor-will, which is named for its call, is harder to hear these days: The nocturnal birds are experiencing steep declines in parts of their Nort...

Eastern Whip-poor-wills are medium-sized birds with a large, rounded head and a stout chest that tapers to a long tail and wings, giving them a distinctly front-heavy look. Smaller than a Chuck-will’s-widow; about the size of a Common Nighthawk.

Often heard but seldom observed, the Whip-poor-will chants its name on summer nights in eastern woods. The song may seem to go on endlessly; a patient observer once counted 1,088 whip-poor-wills given rapidly without a break. By day, the bird sleeps on the forest floor, or on a horizontal log or branch.

whippoorwill, (Caprimulgus vociferus), nocturnal bird of North America belonging to the family Caprimulgidae (see caprimulgiform) and closely resembling the related common nightjar of Europe. It is named for its vigorous deliberate call (first and third syllables accented), which it may repeat 400 times without stopping.

Like its close relative the Chuck-will's-widow, the Eastern Whip-poor-will is rarely seen due to its excellent camouflage. This member of the nightjar family is named for its haunting, onomatopoeic song, which has inspired folk legends and artists from Robert Frost to Elton John.

2023年9月26日 · In Native American traditions, the whippoorwill is considered a bird totem with a variety of symbolic meanings. One such interpretation associates these elusive birds with bringing death or representing omens of misfortune. This symbolism stems from their nightly cries, which some tribes believed to be harbingers of death or bad luck.

2023年3月6日 · These small creatures prefer to live in deciduous and mixed forests, especially those with open understories and a diversity of tree species. The Eastern Whip-poor-will (Antrostomus vociferus) is a fairly small, mottled gray and brown nightbird with a dark stripe on its crown and a narrow white mark on its throat.

On a warm and buggy May evening, an Eastern Whip-poor-will’s brown, orange, and white mottled feathers blend in seamlessly with the brittle oak leaves she sits on. The bird is nearly impossible to differentiate from her surroundings. Grant Witynski, a biologist at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, stands just a few feet away.

Eastern and Mexican Whip-poor-wills used to be considered one species, simply called the Whip-poor-will. But in 2010 they were split into two species based on differences in mitochondrial and nuclear DNA. Eastern Whip-poor-wills give faster, higher-pitched whip-poor-will calls and have more colorful eggs than their western counterparts.