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Whip-poor-wills have been reported as far north as New York State. Over the next few weeks, they'll spread across their breeding range. If you're hoping to hear a nightjar, the weekend of May 10th and 11th, just a few days before a full moon and during eBird's "Global Big Day," may prove especially promising. For more tips on finding the bird or just to learn a little bit about the habitats the species likes, see my post, "How to hear a Whip-poor-will." (For those who are serious about looking for nightjars, the Nightjar Survey Network offers a way for you to systematically seek nightjars and contribute to important citizen-science work. For more, check out their webpage here.)
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Common Poorwills, Colorado's equivalent of the Whip-poor-will, arrive back to the Denver area in about a week. Soon, it'll be time to hang out among scrub oaks and listen for the two note call: poor-will, poor-will, poor-will.
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Poorwills return to Colorado even before the threat of frost -- indeed, even before the threat of tree-crunching blizzards -- is over. But the species is made for extreme weather. They're the only bird known to enter into prolonged states of torpor, a hibernation-like state that allows Poorwills to survive cold weather.
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Beyond the nightjars, the uneven arrival of spring has brought blooms (Wild Plums, Golden Currants, Star Lillies (photo below), and Milkvetches) before more snow and frost. Male Broad-tailed Hummingbirds have begun to fill local open spaces with their insect-like trills. And a House Finch pair has graced our backyard with a nest. The young birds hatched a week or so ago, and the parents are busy running food to the young.
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Recent...
You wouldn't think it by looking at them, but hummingbirds and nightjars share a common ancestor. To get ready for the return of hummingbirds, I wrote an essay on how hummingbirds changed the world for the spring issue of Denver Field Ornithologists' quarterly magazine, The Lark Bunting.
You can find the issue here. I've also reposted the essay to my blog here.
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Global Nightjar Network's Goatsucker of the Month
The Global Nightjar Network's Goatsucker of the Month for March was the Least Pauraque (Siphonorhis brewster), a nightjar of the Dominican Republic. Learn more about the Global Nightjar does by visiting their website or checking out their FaceBook page! This month's entry is brought to you by Lindsay Herlihy, the GNN Communications subcommittee member
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Species Name
Least Pauraque (aka Least Poorwill)
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Scientific Name
Siphonorhis brewsteri
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Status and Distribution
Near Threatened (NT), Hispaniola
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Description and Ecology
This petite member of the Caprimulgidae family is mottled black, brown, buff and white to blend in with the leaf litter. Visually, the Least Pauraque can be distinguished from the Hispaniolan Nightjar and the Chuck-will's-widow by its small size and the distinctive band of white at the tips of its tail feathers. Least Pauraques are denizens of open, arid woodlands and thorny shrublands of Hispaniola, where they are year-round residents. They hunt for insects on the wing at dusk and overnight with a characteristically “floppy” flight pattern. They also sing at night with a trilled, ascending “toooooooooooeeeeeeeee!”
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Interesting fact
The Least Pauraque is the only confirmed extant member of its genus. The closely-related Jamaican Pauraque (Siphonorhis americana) has not been observed since 1860.
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Conservation Risks
Habitat loss by logging and wood harvesting; natural system modification by fire suppression; predation by invasive mongooses and rats
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Photos by 1) Pedro Genaro Rodriguez on iNaturalist and 2) Juan Sangiovanni on iNaturalist
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All photos obtained under a Creative Commons (CC) license
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"To sleep where you may hear the whip-poor-will in your dreams!"
- Henry David Thoreau, 1851
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lonesomewhippoorwill.com
jared@lonesomewhippoorwill.com
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