If you live in the country, or sometimes in the city, around May, you’ll start to hear these strange sounds at night. As a kid, I remember hearing the voices of the night as I was camping or fishing at night. The creatures move silently in the night and periodically call, but they are silent during the day. They are sometimes called goatsuckers or nightjars. Many people also call them whip-poor-wills, but there are three species in South Carolina. These members of the Caprimulgidae family have a large head, small beak, and wide gaping mouth. They tend to forage for insects in open areas where goats were grazing. As far back as Aristotle, people believed these mysterious night flying creatures were sucking milk from goats. Some people even believed that this caused the goats to go blind. I understand the suspicion. They prowl around at night, making haunting sounds, but disappear during the day. The sounds can sometimes scare or jar you at night. This is the source of the name nightjar. If you ever find one during the day and observe its disproportionately large head, eyes, and mouth, you might be frightened and think you have found an agent of the devil.
Now we know that wide, gaping mouths are for catching insects. Their large eyes provide excellent vision so they can see the flying insects, while modified bristle-like feathers around their mouths help them detect insects by touch. Although they vary in size, all goatsuckers have cryptic patterns of brown, gray, black, and occasionally white plumage. They lay eggs on the ground on some leaves, but they don’t really make a nest. I have been startled by them when I scared them off the nest during their daytime slumber. Their tiny feet make walking on the ground cumbersome, but the feet are useful for roosting on tree branches, which is the norm outside of breeding season. They are the only birds that regularly sit lengthwise on a branch, so they appear to be part of the branch. They have really mastered visual camouflage.
The three species in SC arrive by May and migrate south by September. The whip-poor-will spends winter in Central and South America and the Gulf Coast, while the chuck-will’s-widow winters in Central America, Mexico, and Florida. Nighthawks have a really long migration, flying from Canada to the southern regions of South America. During fall migration, large numbers of nighthawks can be seen emerging from their daytime nap at sunset. I call this the most exciting ten minutes of fall migration.
The nighthawk can be observed in urban areas as they forage for insects above areas with bright lights. The lights attract confused insects, which make for easy pickings. Outside of cities, they forage over open fields, low-density forests, or near water. They are crepuscular, which means they are most active at sunset and sunrise. Nighthawks are sometimes active during the day and can be observed at Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge. They can be recognized by their nasal call, forked tail, narrow pointed wings with a white stripe, and white throat. They swirl in circles, catching insects reminiscent of a bat. They are sometimes called bullbats due to this behavior and the swooshing sound they produce as they dive to impress a mate or scare off an intruder. Nighthawks naturally nest on sandy or rocky ground, but in urban areas have adapted to nesting on rooftops covered with gravel. As gravel tops have been replaced by other materials, the number of urban nighthawks has declined.
Whip-poor-wills are nocturnal and known for their rapid song that sounds like “whip poor will.” The three-syllable song has no break between the phrases. They have rounded wing tips with no white markings on the wings. However, you are not likely to see a whip-poor-will because they are crepuscular and sometimes feed all night at full moon. They hunt insects in open areas or forests with an open understory. Sometimes they hunt by sitting on a branch or the ground, grabbing an insect, and returning to the perch. They nest on the ground in open hardwood or mixed pine hardwood forests. Whip-poor-wills synchronize reproduction with the full moon when it is easier to catch insects by sight. Eggs will hatch about a week before a full moon. While humans are using the Farmer’s Almanac to time fishing, hunting, and planting, the whip-poor-will innately follows the phases of the moon. If you live in the Lowcountry, you are less likely to hear a whip-poor-will, but you may occasionally walk up on one during the winter.
Chuck-will’s-widow is about the size of a crow with rounded wing tips and some white stripes on the tail. Its incessant song has a pause between each phrase, and “chuck” is difficult to hear. The pause helps differentiate it from the whip-poor-will song. They also make crocking calls that will scare most people unaware of the source. Chuck-will’s-widow are crepuscular but will feed all night at full moon. They feed on insects and sometimes small bats and birds by flying low over open areas or launching themselves from a branch or the ground. They nest in open pine or hardwood forest near clearings and lay up to four eggs on the ground. You are more likely to hear chuck-will’s-widow in the Low Country, while the Upstate is likely to support all three Nightjars.
All of the Carolina Goatsuckers have declining populations. They all need access to open habitats with numerous insects, which have become less common. To improve habitat for these mysterious birds, pine and hardwood forests should be thinned and the midstory density reduced with prescribed fire. This will also benefit many of the grassland birds that are declining, as well as turkey and deer.
For more information, see these links:
https://www.nwf.org/Magazines/National-Wildlife/1998/Goatsuckers-Get-Some-Respect
https://science.jrank.org/pages/3073/Goatsuckers.html#google_vignette
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Eastern_Whip-poor-will/overview
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Chuck-wills-widow/overview
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Nighthawk/overview
Author(s)
Robert Carter, Cooperative Extension, Forestry and Wildlife Agent
Clemson University Cooperative Extension Service offers its programs to people of all ages, regardless of race, color, gender, religion, national origin, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital or family status and is an equal opportunity employer.
