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Date: | Wed, 13 Jun 2012 14:38:28 -0400 |
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(I am posting the following for Jack Stenger.)
During the past week I took advantage of the bright moon to conduct road-based whip-poor-will surveys within the Vinton Furnace State Experimental Forest (Vinton County). I surveyed 30 road points over four nights, all of which were randomly selected and separated by one kilometer. I only surveyed on clear nights when the moon was above the horizon and >50% full. Thanks to Andrea Ball who helped survey on two nights.
Whip-poor-wills did not disappoint. I detected a total of 82 Eastern Whip-poor-wills on 28 of the 30 points. I surveyed each point for six minutes.
Whip-poor-wills are loud and their calls can carry far, especially in open environments. I recorded the distance and bearing to all birds, so I can rule out duplicate detections when I have the time to sort through the data. However, I was aware of the possibility of double counts and I don't believe it was an issue. I think it was more likely that I missed calling birds. When there are two whip-poor-wills incessantly calling within 150 meters (which there frequently was) it is difficult to pick out any others. It's an Ornithological Catch 22: you are only able to hear multiple whip-poor-wills if there are no whip-poor-wills calling.
This survey reinforced the fact that whip-poor-wills are not birds of deep forests. The two points where they were absent were in continuous forest. The points where they were abundant (one point had 6+ birds) were in openings, recent cuts and along there wooded edges. In this area all open habitats abut large forest tracts. Their habitat preference seems analogous with Yellow-breasted Chats.
The only other birds I detected during the surveys were: Barred Owl (11 detections), Yellow-billed Cuckoo (9), Yellow-breasted Chat (9), and Great Horned Owl (1).
Jack Stenger
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