Only one whippoorwill has been heard around our house this year, and I didn’t even get to hear it. The girls and Paul were getting ready to do some pickin and grinnin in the kitchen a few weeks ago and heard it. I came running from the back of the house and even stepped outside on the back porch but never heard the unique call.
For many years we’d hear a single whippoorwill or sometimes two seeming to answer each other at dawn in late spring. Our little dog Ruby would bark at every call the bird made. It was a very annoying alarm clock.
The warbling call of a whippoorwill is so rare today that it’s hard to believe there was a time there was so many calling it was hard to hear anything else.
Pap said when he was a boy there was lots of whippoorwills. He told me a funny story about them.
Old man Jeff and his brothers were out fox hunting one night and the whippoorwills were so loud they couldn’t hear the dogs running. Jeff told one of his brothers to pull out his shirt tail and tie a knot in it to choke the whippoorwills. As soon as he tied the knot the birds quietened a bit. He told him to tie another one and the birds got even quieter! The old man then instructed his brother to tie one more knot and as he tied the last knot all the whippoorwills fell out of the tree and there hasn’t been a whippoorwill in Bellview since!
Now that’s what you call a tall tall tale!
If you’ve never heard a whippoorwill the sound is kind of lonesome. In some areas the whippoorwill population has been decreased by as much as 80%, not because of someone choking them out with their shirt-tail, but by the continued sprawl of man.
Here’s a recording I captured several years ago when Ruby had woke up the whole household with her barking.
Do you hear whippoorwills at your house?
Last night’s video: May Garden Tour.
Tipper
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We live in west-central Virginia, in the foothills of the Parkway, and there are a lot of sounds we used to hear that are gone now: whippoorwills, screech owls, bobwhites. I haven’t even heard very many spring peepers in the last few years. It makes me sad.
Aww thank you for sharing. It’s been a long time since I heard one. We call them whoop-er-wills. So glad you shared this. Brought back so many wonderful memories.
Hubby and I heard two whippoorwills calling one evening not too long ago. We were sitting on the porch at dusky dark as we listened to their beautiful calls to one another. Hubby loves to get the owls going and he was “hooting” that evening. They start out with their simple whoo whoo— and if there’s more than one, you can end up hearing their arguing call (that’s what I call it) that sounds a lot like a monkey to me. If you’ve ever heard them, you know what I mean. I love that. We don’t sit on the porch that late real often, but we will be doing it more as summer comes on. I loved seeing all the gardens last evening, Tipper. They are beautiful.
Tommy, hunting and hearing WILD bobwhite quail has or was one of the great joys of my life. Like you it has been years since I saw or heard a quail in my area. Rabbits are almost as scarce. But by gosh if you like to hunt deer or squirrels they are plenty of them for everyone and his brother! I never had a desire or could afford to shoot those barnyard chickens that some call hunting quail.
growing up on Wolf Creek. always heard them and the Bobwhites. when Dad & Mom moved to Caney Creek always enjoyed hearing when we would come home for a visit. I do miss hearing whippoorwills. such a lonesome call but it’s such a comfort at the same time
We have whippoorwills here and chuck wills. I love their songs. We also have small brown sparrows that sing their hearts out and they are really loud and melodious for such a small bird. This is a part of living out in the country that I love and pray never changes. Love and prayers to all of you and Granny too.
My wife said she heard one the other night. I used to call my late beloved uncle when i heard one, they were really nostalgic to him. We used to hear bob whites all over the place when farming in the spring. Haven’t known of any in our area in years.
I still hear whippoorwills around my place here on the Cumberland Plateau. I’ve gone to sleep many nights listening to their call.
I used to sit on my front porch in Alabama and listen to them in the evening. I used to practice answering the call with a whistle. I miss that sound. simpler times, I tell you.
I have always enjoyed hearing a Whippoorwill calling out into the night!!!!! Come to think of it, I’ve only heard a Whippoorwill once so far this year, but then I don’t always go outside at night. When I was a child, I lived in the same house where I live now. We live far out in the country, so back then, we slept with the windows up because we didn’t have air conditioning, only an attic fan. I would fall asleep most nights listening to a Whippoorwill calling out into the night—such a pleasant sound to fall asleep to and such a sweet and wonderful memory!!!!!
I haven’t heard one yet in SC PA but they are here. I have heard them down south in NE MS at my Parents and Grandparents homes. I mostly love to hear the Bob White and my Daddy sure could call up a Bob White and quail. It was awesome for a little girl to hear.
Tipper your garden tour was great. Everything looks so lush and beautiful and Granny’s looks fantastic! Praying Granny feels better and I know she will get a big smile on her face when she see’s your video showing her garden too:) I planted my lettuce in planters and my goodness they have produced so well. Haven’t planted anything else yet because our youngest son likes to buy those plants. You mentioned a sun gold tommy toe plant and that is one he has bought for me in the past and it is one of my favorites and always produces abundantly.
I’ve heard them in my area, but honestly don’t remember if I’ve heard them this year. We have so many birds around our yard because my husband feeds them. I told him he had to stop feeding the birds during the summer so they will eat all the bugs around our garden and yard. I’ll listen out for the Wippoorwills as I work my garden today.
I’ve had two calling to each other this year.
Sadly, the only Whippoorwill’s I ever recall hearing is what someone else recorded, but I love their song. And yes, man has run many a wildlife out of its habitat as it takes over – all in the name of progress. A very fitting song Randy!
We slept with our windows open when I was growing up, and we could count on hearing the lonesome-sounding whipperwills and other birds night and day. I hear whipperwills where I live now, but I don’t recall the last time I heard them. I’m going to pay closer attention. The cicadas are drowning out any sound of everything. They sound like a helicopter coming across the hill.
We don’t have whipperwills but lots of robins and cardinals. The cardinals sound so beautiful. We have a lot of tall 20 foot arborvitae on our property and they’re nesting heavily in them. Love the sound in the morning. Got tuns of rabbits too. More than we can control. Hard to keep a garden going with them around.
Yes! I look forward to that every spring. I find it a soothing evening sound!!
Good Morning,
I grew up in Rockford, Illinois and spent summers in Cumberland Wisconsin. In Cumberland, we were in the country. I don’t believe I ever heard a Whippoorwill until I listened to your recording, Tipper. It is so sad that we are destroying the forests and woodlands, ruining the habitat of so many of our wildlife. Before we know it, the only place to see a wild animal will be the zoo. I guess this is the fate we are creating for ourselves.
We have so many here in the Ozarks of Arkansas. I love to listen to them early as I drink my coffee and in the evening as the sun is going down. It takes me back to when I was a little girl. My daddy would tell me to listen to them saying whip-poor-will..whip-poor-will. As a little girl I thought it was the neatest thing that they could sing their name.
I heard the whippoorwills in Ohio and here in Virginia, but I have never seen one. They are an ugly little bird. I heard one not long ago singing his song. We lived around a lot of trees in Charlottesville, and I would go to sleep hearing them.
Since writing my first comment I am trying to remember the Name of a song Tipper mentioned awhile back, it was about the old home place being destroyed by this new development. The title had something to do with Rust. Tipper, would you post it again? Randy
Randy, here’s the post: https://blindpigandtheacorn.com/5-things-44/
Thank you, this is so true around here for so many of the old farms and home places. The land my wife’s grandaddy once farmed has been clear cut to nothing but the bare ground and it is rumored to be turned into a housing development.
I HAVEN’T HEARD A WHIPPOORWILL IN SOUTH ALABAMA SINCE THE 80’S! I USED TO HEAR THEM A LOTS WHILE CAMPING, BUT NO MORE!
I’ve never heard that sweet sound of a whippoorwill but so glad you were able to capture the sound at your home. When we first moved out on our 4 acres, this area was really undeveloped. We used to see
quail in the area all the time. As years went by & more people begin to move out here, the quail all left
for more protected areas. Thanks for sharing the beautiful song of the whippoorwill with us this morning.
No whippoorwills here, just a few chuck wills widows which, like whipoorwills, say their name over and over. For me, whippoorwills and bull frogs are the sound track of night fishing on Cumberland River growing up. I most likely have posted this before but I sure would like to live where I could hear whipoorwills, wood thrushes and oven birds; in other words near some deep woods.
All my life (1964-now), since I was old enough to remember Summer nights, would be filled with the sound of so many whipporwills (we pronounce the name of the unique sounding bird as “whipper-wheels” in my neck of the woods). As a young boy, I was awestruck at how my daddy could call one up to close proximity and I recall one almost lighting on his shoulder once. By the age of twelve, I could call them up too. As I grew older and began to turkey hunt whipporwills would be one the sides of country roads as I eased along in the gray morning light headed for my favorite hunting spots, but not this year. I only heard four or five and saw two. My turkey hunting yielded about the same results with those wary birds. I really do not have a solid reason as to why we aren’t hearing them this year. I didn’t see any snakes during turkey season in the woods or one the roads. I did see one tiny red frog, but heard no bullfrogs. I hope these critters aren’t going the way of the quail in our area. While once abundant in coveys, I began to hear less and less quail “whistle up” while turkey hunting. In recent times, I have not seen or heard a bobwhite in the last five years for certain. Where did they go? Is this a cycle? Did these animals start their springtime mating calls and pairing early and stop before I started hunting? I asked an older turkey hunting friend who is 89 years old why we were not hearing turkeys this year and her replied, “I believe they started gobbling before we started hunting”. Who knows? I contacted the forest service biologist this spring and inquired. Neither did she have a definite answer.
Thank you Tipper we hear them most of the time but now we are going to listen at night mom don’t hear them because she goes to bed at around 630 pm and me shortly after usually after my prayers to try ask for mercy on the human population for what’s coming a little mercy from him goes a long ways but with what’s coming we need a lot of mercy but thank you for your comments about whippoorwills .
I don’t think we have whippoorwills here in California. At least I’ve never seen or heard them. I think I’d enjoy hearing their evening songs.
I remember hearing a whip-poor-will when I was a child, but have not heard of one recently.
I do hear a Chuck-will’s-widow occasionally at night in the woods behind our house.
I have experienced the same here in upstate South Carolina. For years I would get the paper to read the headlines with my morning coffee and loved hearing their lonesome call. I cannot remember the last time I heard one.
My husband tells the story of a friend whose parents couldn’t get good sleep because their house was surrounded by woods full of whippoorwills. So they finagled a way to ring some tin cans on a rope, hoping the noise would silence them a bit. However, it made their call faster and more frantic: whip-poor-will! whip-poor-will! whip-poor-will!
Thanks, Tipper, for your homage to whippoorwills.
We have the perfect woods for whippoorwills to live in, but none have taken up permanent residence. Last Friday at 5:03 am I woke up to one calling deep in the woods but it only lasted about 20 seconds. A couple of years ago one landed and called right outside our bedroom window during the fall migration. We do have too many feral cats around here and they are part of the reason songbirds are disappearing. I believe that is why whippoorwills don’t stay here. When I was a little girl they were everywhere and many a night I feel asleep during their calls.
Whippoorwills nest in low scrubs near the ground or in detritus directly on the ground. That might be their downfall. The sharp increase in numbers of coons, possums and coyotes, etc. brought on by human encroachment might be the cause of their decrease.
So, the tall tall tale might actually be a triple tall tale since whippoorwills don’t even nest in trees.
Sadly, no, there are no whippoorwills calling here. Whipporwills were a taken-for-granted common bird growing up in the 60s. I miss their lonely, yet beautiful, calls.
Around 5 years or so ago, we had one. The first in several years. I loved listening. It left, and I’ve heard no more. I’m in south central Indiana, 20 miles from Louisville, KY. My Grandma Isabelle always called them rain crows. Google shows that as a different bird, so I may be misremembering all these years after she’s gone. And, I was only 6 when she passed. She was an amazing farm woman, small, but tough as shoe leather. Always carried a .32 in her bucket for farm chores for “serpents and such.” Nowadays I think my mean ol alcoholic grandpa was the “such.” The more you learn as you age…
My daughter when she lived in Orlando Florida had Whippoorwills that would chirp at sunset and nighttime-so pretty
We have had two whippoorwills in our area for about a month now in coastal NC……first time I’ve ever heard them for this long . Usually I’ll hear one for a day or two and then it’s gone. Makes me smile on my early morning walks….❤️
Same thing here when I was as a child every summer night the air would be filled with the sound of the whipper wills . As we played outside from dawn to dusk. Thanks for the memories.
Mike
I’ve never seen nor heard a whippoorwill. I guess they’re not around my area in southern Ohio or just not many of them. What an interesting song they sing! I’d certainly noticed if I heard that one in the wee hours. I love to creep out with my coffee early of a morning and listen to the birds start their songs.
From age eight, I was allowed to pitch a pup tent and spend the night alone in the woods behind our house. I often went to sleep to the sound of the whippoorwill’s sad cries and woke up to the song of robins and the tapping of downy woodpeckers.
That was almost 60 years ago and 4,000 miles away, but the memories are as sweet as ever.
Thanks for jogging my memory!
It has been a long time since I heard a whippoorwill. I remember often hearing them in the past. I guess the whippoorwill along with so much other wildlife are being killed by all of this housing and other development going on in my area. In my area the natural woodlands are being destroyed at a fast pace in every direction you go. I read an article last night by the SCDNR saying all forms of wildlife are being destroyed by this, even wildlife you would never consider. I think Hank Williams song “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” has a line in it about the lonesome call of a whippoorwill.