May 16: Chuck-will's-widow

[neverspent]

I forgot to say so May 13 when it happened, but I heard my first whippoorwill of the year. We call it a whippoorwill, but it's really a chuck-will's-widow. It's a distinct, plaintive call that comes from the woods in late evening and through the night. Sometimes another bird will answer the first from across the small valley or another part of the woods. My dad and I have a tradition of noting the first call together. When one of us hears it, we'll call the other one to come listen. Sometimes this takes the form of my dad telephoning me and holding his cell phone up in the air for me to listen.

Chuck-will's-widows and whippoorwills are kinds of nightjars — night hunters with wide beaks for catching flying insects. They're very well camouflaged for the forest, and I've never seen one — only heard them.

You can listen to a chuck-will's-widow call here. I think the calls in our area are a little bit slower. They must have a Southern accent.