Hi all,

After spending all day in and around Shawnee State Forest in Scioto and
Adams County yesterday, I found dusk growing near, so decided to stay into
the evening to look for nightjars. And there were plenty of them about.
Along Forest Rd. 1, on the north side of State Rte. 125 I heard and saw
about half a dozen Whip-poor-wills. They were very active, and I suspect
these were territorial birds already back and loudly singing their whistled
songs over and over and over and over. Donald Kroodsma, author of The
Singing Life of Birds, counted one individual that sang over 28,800
"tuck-whip-poor-WILLS! in one nine hour span! I don't know what is more
amazing - the fact that this species can be so vociferous, or that Don had
the patience to actually make that tally. That's about 54 songs an hour, on
average, and a whip at full velocity belts out a phrase in a bit over a
half-second.

Not coincidentally, there was a blizzard of moths of many species fluttering
along the forest roads. Whip-poor-wills are totally tied into moths, which
make up the bulk of their diet. Also, the moon was full and blazing, and
nightjars are most active on moonlight nights, and the fuller the moon, the
better.

The safe date for Whip-poor-will for the Ohio Breeding Bird Atlas isn't
until May 25th. The next full moon will be May 19th. If chance allows, keep
in eye out for bright moonlit evenings and if possible, get out and check
around for whips, and also Chuck-will's-widows in southern Ohio. If you find
some birds prior to the safe date, try and get back after May 25th and see
if they are still present. These species are not only fascinating to search
for and listen to, they tend to be greatly underreported. While habitat loss
has certainly diminished this fascinating goatsucker, so have other, more
insidious factors. Ill-advised and poorly thought out spraying campaigns to
control gypsy moths, coupled with other forms of chemical pollution as well
as light pollution from bright night lights, have greatly reduced
populations of large moths and thus Whip-poor-wills' main food source.
Please send along any observations for the atlas. Most evidence shows a
strong decline in Whip-poor-will populations, and this is a bird that we
should be keeping a close watch on, to the extent possible.

Jim

Jim McCormac

Columbus, Ohio

Like nature? Visit my blog: http://jimmccormac.blogspot.com/

Like birds? Join the Ohio Ornithological Society: http://www.ohiobirds.org






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