Fun Eastern Whip-poor-will Facts For Kids

The eastern whip-poor-will (Antrostomus vociferus) is a medium-sized North American bird that feeds on small insects like beetles, moths, and mosquitoes. They basically prefer to live in deciduous forests and mixed forests with little forest underbrush. They hunt insects during full moon nights and do their nesting on the forest ground. They are named after their song, and they do their breeding usually during the month of May-June. The eastern whip-poor-will egg color is brownish-white, and they are a common breeder in parts of New York.

Look at these interesting facts about the eastern whip-poor-will bird; if you like these, do read our white turkey and shiny cowbird facts too.

What type of animal is an eastern whip-poor-will?

An eastern whip-poor-wills are named after their song, which can be heard from a good range during moonlit nights. But due to their camouflage abilities, they are hardly seen from a distance.

What class of animal does an eastern whip-poor-will belong to?

Eastern whip-poor-wills are a species of bird, and like all the other birds, they also belong to the class of Aves.

How many eastern whip-poor-wills are there in the world?

The total population of the eastern whip-poor-wills in the world is 1,800,000 young birds.

Where does an eastern whip-poor-will live?

Eastern whip-poor-wills are migratory birds, and they practice migration during different months of the year. These young birds prefer to live in the tropical dry forest during the summers and on leaf litter in deciduous pine or mixed forest with a little forest floor during winters.

What is an eastern whip-poor-will's habitat?

The habitat of this species of bird is mainly found along with the eastern United States and Central America, but the eastern whip-poor-will migration towards the North American regions, Mexico, and Canada during the winters changes their habitat.

Who do eastern whip-poor-wills live with?

The eastern whip-poor-will generally likes to spend a solitary life, but during migration, it might form a little group of birds of the same species.

How long does an eastern whip-poor-will live?

An average eastern whip-poor-will has a lifespan of around 4-15 years.

How do they reproduce?

Eastern whip-poor-wills usually finish breeding during March. They have seen nesting in concealed areas among dead leaves on the forest floor or ground and generally lay two eggs all at once. Breeding keeps going on for 19-21 days performed by the two-parent birds. Female eastern whip-poor-wills, for the most part, produce one or two broods each year while the male birds keep guarding the nest.

What is their conservation status?

As per the IUCN Red List, the conservation status of this species of bird is Near Threatened because their population is declining fast due to poor conservation efforts and habitat loss. They will soon become endangered if proper conservation efforts aren't implemented.

What do eastern whip-poor-wills look like?

The eastern whips are medium-sized birds with long and rounded tails and short legs. The young birds are usually brown-black in color with some white patches on their body.

The eastern whip-poor-will differs only in its size and vocalization from the Mexican whip-poor-will. Otherwise, both the birds are highly identical, and it is hardly possible to distinguish between them.

How cute are they?

They are not very cute as their appearance is not as appealing as the other birds.

How do they communicate?

They communicate by vocalization. The eastern whip-poor-will chirp or the eastern whip-poor-will call to the other birds is done by making different sounds via vocalization.

How big is an eastern whip-poor-will?

The eastern whip-poor-will size ranges somewhere between 8.6-10.6 in (21.8-27 cm) which is a bit larger than the size of an average bird that ranges from 5-6 in (12.7-15.24 cm).

How fast can an eastern whip-poor-will fly?

The exact speed of the eastern whip is not yet determined by the researchers.

How much does an eastern whip-poor-will weigh?

The weight of an eastern whip-poor-will ranges between 0.09-0.15 lb (40.8-68 g), which is a lot heavier than the weight of a hummingbird that ranges between 0.008-0.017 lb (3.6-7.7 g).

What are the male and female names of the species?

There is no such specific name given to the males or the female adult of this species of bird.

What would you call a baby eastern whip-poor-will?

A baby or young eastern whip-poor-will is called a chick.

What do they eat?

They usually hunt insects like worms, moths, beetles, mosquitoes, and flies during the moonlit nights or the full moon nights and then eat them as food.

Are they bad?

No, this species of bird is not at all bad.

Would they make a good pet?

They wouldn't make a good pet as they are not domestic birds and are habitual of living in open areas. Also, this species of eastern whip-poor-will sounds pretty loud when vocalizing, which might become disturbing for humans.

Did you know...

They feed on insects and prefer to hunt tiny insects like moths and beetles on full moon night for their food. They can be bought from pet stores on special demand.

Eastern whip-poor-wills lay their eggs in sync with the lunar cycle so that eggs can hatch just about 10 days before a full moon.

Its name is based on the sound it makes, which is 'whip-poor-will'.

These birds are hard to find and are rarely available in pet stores so it is difficult to buy them.

Male whip-poor-wills sing during the moonlit night to defend their territories and to attract mates.

How do I get rid of a whip-poor-will?

To get rid of whip-poor-wills, you can keep a pet cat or a dog in your family or use bird repellent sprays against them.

What is the difference between the eastern whip-poor-will and the Mexican whip-poor-will?

The only differences between the eastern whip-poor-will and the Mexican whip-poor-will are in their tail sizes, on-ground vocalization, and the color of their eggs. The eggs of the Mexican whip are cream-colored, whereas the eggs of the eastern whip are brownish-white, both eggs sized very similarly.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! For more relatable content, check out these bowerbird facts and umbrellabird facts for kids.

You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable Eastern whip-poor-will coloring pages.