They were everywhere now among the dark trees below him, constant and inflectioned and ceaseless, so that, as the instant for giving over to the day birds drew nearer and nearer, there was no interval at all between them." He could tell that from the whip-poor-wills. For example, William Faulkner's short story, "Barn Burning", makes several mentions of whip-poor-wills: "and then he found that he had been asleep because he knew it was almost dawn, the night almost over. It is also frequently used as an auditory symbol of rural America, as in Washington Irving's story " The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", or as a plot device. The bird also features in "The Runaway Slave at Pilgrim's Point", a poem by the English poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning, in which the outcast speaker asks: "Could the whip-poor-will or the cat of the glen/Look into my eyes and be bold?" Kinstrey, who eventually loses his mind and kills everyone in his house, including himself. This is also referred by "Whip-poor-will", a short story by James Thurber, in which the constant nighttime singing of a whip-poor-will results in maddening insomnia of the protagonist, Mr. This is likely related to an earlier Native American and general American folk belief that the singing of the birds is a death omen. Lovecraft based this idea on information of local legends given to him by Edith Miniter of North Wilbraham, Massachusetts, when he visited her in 1928. A New England legend says the whip-poor-will can sense a soul departing, and can capture it as it flees. Cultural references ĭue to its song, the eastern whip-poor-will is the topic of numerous legends. BirdLife International has stated that initiatives like the Conservation Reserve Program will be crucial in conserving the species and reversing its decline. Pesticides and intensified agriculture have led to declines in the flying insect populations that the eastern whip-poor-will depends on. Several reasons for the decline are proposed, such as loss of early successional forest habitat related to fire suppression and habitat destruction, predation by feral cats and dogs, and poisoning by insecticides, but the actual causes remain elusive. In 2017, the eastern whip-poor-will was uplisted from least concern to near threatened on the IUCN Red List on the basis of citizen science observations demonstrating a decline in populations of the eastern whip-poor-will by over 60% between 19. The eastern whip-poor-will is currently in decline, though they remain fairly common. Conservation A rarely seen eastern whip-poor-will by day in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The two populations were split based on range, different vocalizations, different egg coloration, and DNA sequencing showing differentiation. The disjunct population in southwestern United States and Mexico is now referred to as the Mexican whip-poor-will, Antrostomus arizonae. Eastern populations are now referred to as the eastern whip-poor-will. The whip-poor-will has been split into two species. The bird will commonly remain on the nest unless almost stepped upon. Eastern whip-poor-wills nest on the ground, in shaded locations among dead leaves, and usually lay two eggs at a time. These birds forage at night, catching insects in flight, and normally sleep during the day. This bird is sometimes confused with the related chuck-will's-widow ( Antrostomus carolinensis) which has a similar but lower-pitched and slower call.Įastern whip-poor-wills breed in deciduous or mixed woods across central and southeastern Canada and the eastern United States, and migrate to the southeastern United States and to eastern Mexico and Central America for the winter. Males have a white patch below the throat and white tips on the outer tail feathers in the female, these parts are light brown. They have a very short bill and a black throat. Adults have mottled plumage: the upperparts are grey, black and brown the lower parts are grey and black. Description Magee Marsh - Ohio (flash photo) It is named onomatopoeically after its song. The whip-poor-will is commonly heard within its range, but less often seen because of its camouflage. 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.
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