Eastern Whip-Poor-Will
Antrostomus vociferus

The Eastern whip-poor-will is a nocturnal insectivore that is most active during summer, moonlit nights.

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Whip-poor-will sits on a branch. Its eye is black.
Eastern whip-poor-wills are nocturnal, sleeping during the day and foraging for food at night. (Photo courtesy of Paul Cools/iNaturalist CC BY-NC, cropped and toned)

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Appearance

Eastern whip-poor-wills have mottled brown and gray colors that camouflage them in forests. They have large wings and males have large white patches on their outer three tail feathers (more brown on a female). They have large mouths and black whiskers on their mouth called rictal bristles.

Feeding

Eastern whip-poor-wills feed only on insects, particularly flying insects which they catch with their large mouths. Since they forage at night, the bird has eyes that are adapted for low light, and can sense the vibrations of insects with their rictal bristles. They are the most active during full moons since visibility is better.

Predators

Snakes and mammals such as skunks, raccoons, coyotes and red foxes prey on Eastern whip-poor-will eggs and young. Both male and female whip-poor-wills will lure predators away from their young by pretending to have a broken wing.

Flight

When foraging, the bird will fly from its perch on a tree or from the ground and catch an insect in the air, then return to its perch. They can fly nearly vertically when chasing insects.

Voice

Eastern whip-poor-will song sounds like whip-poor-will. They will make their call continuously for long periods of time.

Reproduction and life cycle

Females lay two eggs per clutch that are incubated by both males and females for 19-21 days. The eggs will often hatch about 10 days before a full moon so that the adults have plenty of visibility to forage for insects to feed the young.

After the young have molted into their camouflaged plumage, at about 8 days, the female will leave to start a new clutch of two eggs nearby while the male takes care of the young. Males protect the family’s territory.

Did you know?

  • The Eastern whip-poor-will and Mexican whip-poor-will were thought to be the same species until recently.

  • Eastern whip-poor-will is a member of the nightjar family, which is a category of nocturnal birds that forage at night.

Sources and additional information

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