Eastern Whip-poor-will Sounds

Overview
ID info
Life History
Maps
Sounds

Song
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Massachusetts, June 10, 2001Recorded by Curtis Marantz | Macaulay Library
Calls
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New Jersey, May 15, 1960Recorded by George B. Reynard | Macaulay Library
Calls
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Indiana, May 26, 2000Recorded by Geoffrey A. Keller | Macaulay Library

Sounds provided by Macaulay Library.
Listen to more sounds of this species from the ML archive.

Songs

Although Eastern Whip-poor-wills are not technically songbirds, their whip-poor-will call functions as a song, since males consistently repeat this call from conspicuous perches during the breeding season.

Calls

The male’s emphatic, chanted whip-poor-will, sometimes repeated for hours on end, is a classic sound of warm summer nights in the countryside of the East. It commonly appears in regional songs and literature. A typical call accents the first and last syllable (with a tremulous middle syllable), and immediately starts in on the next call, creating a circular rhythm. Males and females both give a short, sharp quirt to contact their mates or express agitation when a predator is near the nest. They also make growls to ward off territorial intruders and hisses to ward off predators.

Other Sounds

The Eastern Whip-poor-will sometimes claps its wings to warn intruders away from its territory.

Compare with Similar Species

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Chuck-will's-widow

Common Nighthawk

Common Pauraque

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Species in This Family

Nightjars and Allies(Order: Caprimulgiformes, Family:Caprimulgidae)

Eastern Whip-poor-will

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