It is a goatsucker, sometimes referred to as a nightjar. I call them Whip-poor-will, but those in the south are really Chuck-will’s-widow. You may never have seen one, but you probably would recognize their distinctive call in the early evening and morning hours when they repeatedly call their own name.
This night-flying bird (Caprimulgus carolinensis) is large, about 12 inches long, with rather short rounded wings, short legs and a longish rounded tail. Although the beak is short, the soft parts of the mouth open wide to catch soft-bodied moths and other night flying insects while the bird is on the wing.
By day, the birds will perch flat along a limb or on the ground. On either surface, they are well camouflaged among brownish leaves and grasses or even on bare ground because their bodies are beige and brown mottled with white spots and a white band around the throat. The outer few feathers on the tail are vertically striped with white about half the length of the tail.
During courting season, you will often hear a nearby call and an answering call from farther away. The bird does a funny up and down pumping dance while calling.
During nesting season, the birds are much quieter. You may have walked right by a bird on a nest or even just the nest and not noticed it.
The last nest I saw was less than a foot off the path.
The buff, slightly speckled eggs blend right into the slight hollow of the nest made directly on the ground among sand and pebbles or in dried grasses and leaves. When the female is on the nest, her body resembles a piece of bark or a dried leaf. The bird will sit tight unless you are about to step on it.
In Missouri, where I grew up, we have Whip-poor-wills. Early in the season, my grandfather Dow would sit on the porch steps in the evening and whistle a series of the rolling calls. Then he would wait and listen for an answer. He said the secret of calling another bird in was to not be too eager to answer a call right away. He also told me not to do it after the first week of calls as it might disturb the nesting cycle. He taught me many lessons about being a true environmentalist.