Eastern Whip-poor-will
Photo © Sue Carnahan
Photo © Sue Carnahan — CC BY 4.0 — Source: iNaturalist #360027395The 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. The whip-poor-will is commonly heard within its range, but less often seen because of its camouflage. It is named onomatopoeically after its song. == Description == This medium-sized nightjar measures 22–27 cm (8+1⁄2–10+1⁄2 in) in length, spans 45–50 cm (17+1⁄2–19+1⁄2 in) across the wings and weighs 42–69 g (1+1⁄2–2+7⁄16 oz). Further standard measurements are a wing chord of 14.7 to 16.9 cm (5+13⁄16 to 6+5⁄8 in), a tail of 10.5 to 12.8 cm (4+1⁄8 to 5+1⁄16 in), a bill of 1 to 1.4 cm (3⁄8 to 9⁄16 in) and a tarsus of 1.5 to 1.8 cm (9⁄16 to 11⁄16 in). 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; in the female, these parts are light brown. This bird is sometimes confused with the related chuck-will's-widow (Antrostomus carolinensis) which has a similar but lower-pitched and slower…
Frontenac National Park
Sainte-Praxède, Canada
+178 birds+11 mammals
Where the Canadian Shield's ancient granite ridges meet coniferous forest and freshwater lakes, Frontenac National Park embraces a landscape carved by millennia of glacial movement. The…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKMont-Saint-Bruno National Park
Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, Canada
+200 birds+13 mammals
Hardwood forests rise steeply from the suburbs of Montreal to crown a distinctive peak in the Monterégian Hills, their ancient geology pushing through mixed deciduous woodland…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKMauricie National Park
Shawinigan, Canada
+184 birds+12 mammals
Where the Canadian Shield meets boreal forest, Mauricie National Park unfolds across a landscape of granite ridges, crystalline lakes, and dense coniferous woodland that defines the…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKNew River Gorge National Park
Fayette County, United States
+183 birds+13 mammals
Where the New River carves its ancient path through the Appalachian plateau, a landscape of towering sandstone cliffs and dense deciduous forest creates one of the…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKVoyageurs National Park
Northwest Saint Louis, United States
+198 birds+13 mammals
Where the boreal forest meets the glacially sculpted lakes of northwestern Minnesota, Voyageurs National Park sprawls across nearly two thousand square kilometres of a landscape shaped…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKMammoth Cave National Park
Edmonson County, United States
+179 birds+13 mammals
Beneath the rolling hills of central Kentucky lies one of North America's most extensive cave systems, where limestone passages descend through a landscape shaped by water…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKIndiana Dunes National Park
Porter, United States
+304 birds+15 mammals
Along the southern shore of Lake Michigan, where glacial geology meets temperate woodland and open water, sprawls a landscape of extraordinary ecological complexity. The dunes themselves—massive…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKEverglades National Park
Monroe County, United States
+345 birds+22 mammals
Where freshwater marsh meets subtropical sky, the Everglades sprawls across southwestern Florida as one of North America's most expansive wetland ecosystems. Spanning over 13,000 square kilometers,…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKGreat Smoky Mountains National Park
Sevier County, United States
+244 birds+40 mammals
Where the southern Appalachian ridgeline reaches its most densely forested expression, over 4,200 square kilometres of temperate woodland rise and fall across Tennessee and North Carolina,…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKGrands-Jardins National Park
Lac-Pikauba, Canada
+166 birds+10 mammals
Where the boreal forest transitions into the subalpine plateaus of Quebec's Laurentian highlands, Grands-Jardins National Park sprawls across nearly 690 square kilometers of wild terrain that…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKMont-Tremblant National Park
Lac-des-Dix-Milles, Canada
+200 birds+12 mammals
Where the Laurentian plateau rises in central Quebec, a landscape of boreal forest and glacially carved lakes unfolds across nearly 3,100 square kilometres of protected wilderness.…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKKouchibouguac National Park of Canada
Carleton Parish, Canada
+207 birds+14 mammals
Where the Maritime provinces meet the Atlantic, 591 square kilometres of coastal forest and wetland unfold across New Brunswick's eastern shoulder, a mosaic of boreal woodland,…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKPoint Pelee National Park
Leamington, Canada
+296 birds+14 mammals
Where Lake Erie's shallow waters meet the Ontario shoreline, a slender sandy peninsula juts into the Great Lakes like a natural funnel for migrating wildlife. This…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKAcadia National Park
Bar Harbor, United States
+291 birds+27 mammals
Where the Maine coast rises in granite cliffs and spruce-clad headlands, Acadia National Park unfolds across Mount Desert Island and its surrounding waters, a landscape carved…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKBiscayne National Park
Miami-Dade County, United States
+263 birds+7 mammals
Coral reefs and mangrove shallows dominate this marine sanctuary where the Florida Keys meet the Atlantic, creating a mosaic of shallow seagrass meadows, patch reefs, and…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKCongaree National Park
Richland County, United States
+205 birds+12 mammals
Where the Congaree River winds through the lowlands of South Carolina, an old-growth bottomland forest of extraordinary character rises from a landscape shaped by seasonal floods…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKCuyahoga Valley National Park
Brecksville, United States
+255 birds+27 mammals
Where the Cuyahoga River carves through a glaciated landscape of Ohio, the valley reveals a temperate deciduous forest ecosystem shaped by four distinct seasons and reliable…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKHot Springs National Park
Hot Springs, United States
+168 birds+8 mammals
Thermal waters rising from deep within the Ouachita Mountains have carved a landscape unlike anywhere else in the continental United States, where 47 natural hot springs…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKIsle Royale National Park
Keweenaw County, United States
+197 birds+9 mammals
Across Lake Superior's cold waters lies an island wilderness where boreal forest meets rocky shoreline, a place where the climate refuses to yield easy comfort. Isle…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKShenandoah National Park
Page County, United States
+243 birds+31 mammals
Ridges of ancient quartzite rise above the Shenandoah Valley floor, their slopes dressed in a mosaic of oak and hickory forest that yields to cove hardwoods…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKJ.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge
Sanibel, United States
+277 birds+6 mammals
Mangrove channels and coastal marshlands dominate this 6,400-acre sanctuary on Florida's Gulf coast, where brackish waterways weave between dense stands of red, black, and white mangrove…
VIEW WILDLIFE SANCTUARYMerritt Island National Wildlife Refuge
Brevard County, United States
+341 birds+19 mammals
Brackish marshes and palmetto scrub define this wildlife sanctuary spanning the coastal lowlands of central Florida, where the Atlantic tide meets freshwater systems in a dynamic…
VIEW WILDLIFE SANCTUARYOkefenokee National Wildlife Refuge
Charlton County, United States
+206 birds+14 mammals
Vast wetlands of cypress and blackwater creeks define this wildlife sanctuary straddling the Georgia–Florida border, where the landscape shifts between open marsh, dense swamp forest, and…
VIEW WILDLIFE SANCTUARYChincoteague National Wildlife Refuge
Chincoteague, United States
+362 birds+16 mammals
Across the barrier islands and salt marshes of Virginia's Eastern Shore, where Atlantic tides sculpt an intricate mosaic of sandy spits and tidal flats, lies one…
VIEW WILDLIFE SANCTUARYLaguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge
Cameron County, United States
+365 birds+19 mammals
Where coastal prairie meets shallow lagoon along the southernmost tip of Texas, Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Sanctuary sprawls across a landscape sculpted by salt spray and…
VIEW WILDLIFE SANCTUARYSanta Ana National Wildlife Refuge
Hidalgo County, United States
+349 birds+12 mammals
Where the Rio Grande delta meets the semi-arid scrublands of South Texas, Santa Ana National Wildlife Sanctuary preserves a rare mosaic of wetland and thornforest habitat…
VIEW WILDLIFE SANCTUARYWheeler National Wildlife Refuge
Triana, United States
+268 birds+10 mammals
Shallow impoundments and meandering channels spread across northern Alabama's humid subtropical landscape, where Wheeler National Wildlife Sanctuary anchors a critical junction of wetland and woodland habitat.…
VIEW WILDLIFE SANCTUARYBombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge
Kent County, United States
+323 birds+15 mammals
Tidal marshes and brackish shallows define this sanctuary on Delaware's Atlantic coast, where the meeting of freshwater and salt creates some of the Mid-Atlantic's most dynamic…
VIEW WILDLIFE SANCTUARYBlackwater National Wildlife Refuge
Fishing Creek, United States
+293 birds+15 mammals
Tidal marshes and brackish waterways define this wildlife sanctuary where the Chesapeake Bay's influence reshapes the landscape with every rise and fall of the water. Shallow…
VIEW WILDLIFE SANCTUARYAlligator River National Wildlife Refuge
Dare County, United States
+288 birds+17 mammals
Where the coastal plain of North Carolina meets the Albemarle Peninsula, a sprawling mosaic of freshwater marshes, pocosins, and swamp forest creates one of the Atlantic…
VIEW WILDLIFE SANCTUARYPelican Island National Wildlife Refuge
Windsor, United States
+265 birds+4 mammals
Where Florida's Indian River widens into a brackish estuary, a small island sanctuary commands the attention of waterbirds across the Atlantic Flyway. Pelican Island National Wildlife…
VIEW WILDLIFE SANCTUARYSt. Marks National Wildlife Refuge
Saint Marks, United States
+324 birds+16 mammals
Where the Apalachee Bay begins to define the Florida coastline, salt marshes and freshwater impoundments merge into one of the southeastern United States' most productive wildlife…
VIEW WILDLIFE SANCTUARYCedar Keys National Wildlife Refuge
Levy County, United States
+268 birds+8 mammals
Where the Florida Gulf Coast transitions from mainland to archipelago, Cedar Keys National Wildlife Sanctuary protects a mosaic of salt marshes, shallow estuaries, and maritime hammocks…
VIEW WILDLIFE SANCTUARYChassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge
Homosassa, United States
+299 birds+14 mammals
Where the Gulf of Mexico's coastal marshes dissolve into brackish tidal flats and mangrove thickets, the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Sanctuary near Homosassa represents one of Florida's…
VIEW WILDLIFE SANCTUARYNo community photos yet. Log in to add the first one.
No community observations of this species yet.