Now that you mention it, it has been a long time since I've heard them.Always enjoyed listening to them. Sad that life has gotten so fast paced and so much area has been developed, that simple things we once enjoyed on a regular basis are few and far between!!
2013 Kodiak 279 rbsl
2012 Ford F150 with ecoboost
Equalizer hitch
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Thanks for the link, 1stGenFarmboy. That's a good one!
A few years ago we tent camped with Scouts on the bluffs over the Missouri River. There we were introduced to whip-poor-wills. They seemed to be perched atop our tents singing into microphones. No sleep for days :-)
House cats are wiping them out where housing expands. Last ones, I saw, were at a drive in theater in Michigan. Mother was trying to lead us away from eggs that looked like little more than the gravel.
down home wrote: House cats are wiping them out where housing expands. Last ones, I saw, were at a drive in theater in Michigan. Mother was trying to lead us away from eggs that looked like little more than the gravel.
are you shure your not talking about a Kill-Deer, they usually nest in the gravel in the wide open and act like there wing is broken when you get to close to the nest, they also have a very loud alarm call.
if you are talking about a Whippoor-will i have never seen a nest in the gravel only in the deep woods.
but anything is possible when there habitat is disapering.
(yes i know i can't spell) my spell checker is asleep on the couch.
Dar
1993 Dodge cummins crankin out some torque,
2003 Lance 1071 loaded to the hilt
To the OP, as others have implied, be careful for what you wish . . .
As a boy, my family had an old lake house/cabin down in the SE Missouri Ozarks. I had fond memories of the Whip-poor-wills providing a soft, bedtime lullaby to which I went to sleep peacefully. I really missed that after I grew up, and the old lakehouse was long gone.
Fast forward about 40 years . . . My wife and I built our dream home out in "the woods" about 50 miles West of STL. I loved the country life, and was greatly anticipating the possibility that I might hear my old friends, the Whip-poor-wills, again! One night, not longer after we moved into our new home, I did hear a whip-poor-will, far off in the distance. I was ecstatic! Later, I noticed that the Whip-poor-wills seemed to kinda like our house and property, because they kept getting closer and closer as time went on! I was on cloud nine, as I had many cherished memories of the old lakehouse, of which the Whip-poor-wills were a large part!
I did notice they seemed to be a bit louder than I had remembered, but no matter!!!
As a matter of fact, they seemed to be getting closer and louder as each week went by. I decided that perhaps we should close the windows a bit, just to tone it down a touch. I hated to do it, because I loved the sound of the Whip-poor-wills.
"Close the windows tonight!", my wife said to me one night not long after. "Those **** birds are keeping me awake!" My wife never grew up enjoying the song of the Whip-poor-will, so she didn't really understand . . . . To keep the peace, I closed the windows that night. I can recall how sad that was for me, but I did notice I felt a lot more rested the next morning. Probably just a co-incidence.
As time went on, the Whip-poor-wills decided they really liked our deck, which was right outside our bedroom. We had a sliding glass door leading out to it. I found it really amazing how well the Whip-poor-will song can penetrate triple pane glass and six inch, insulated walls. I mean, really amazing. It must the the frequency or something.
My love affair with the Whip-poor-wills was waning, as I discovered these were not the same birds that I remembered from my youth! The Whip-poor-wills of my youth had a song that was distant, soft and soothing. These **** birds were nothing but a loud grunge band compared to the "Andy Williams" birds of my youth!
More than once, I burst out of my bedroom sliding door to hurl insults and other things at these imposters!!! A temporary fix at best. We learned to keep the house closed up during the peak "imposter" season.
Two years ago, we moved from that house back to the burbs of STL. No more Whip-poor-wills.
I'm starting to kind of miss them.
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Miss Inga - 3 month old GSD. Still a civilian at this point.
We have never heard them except in the spring here at home. We have one that sits on top of my roof peak and whipporwills his heart out every evening from mid March to mid May. We love him
Tina & Greg Cornell
2004 Georgie Boy Pursuit
2007 Chevy HHR
Trinity, FL
DOTLDaddy, funny story! When I read the OP's post it immediately brought to mind the memory of my mother running out of the house at night to try to chase a whip-or-will out of the bushes under her bedroom window. I haven't heard one in years so I can believe that they're not as plentiful as they used to be
We use to hear them at home in Missouri Ozarks but not anymore. Have camped around Missouri and Arkansas and have not heard any for quite a while.
As much as we use to hear them, with the kids we could never sneak up on one in the night to see them!
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One night, not longer after we moved into our new home, I did hear a whip-poor-will, far off in the distance. I was ecstatic! 
Later, I noticed that the Whip-poor-wills seemed to kinda like our house and property, because they kept getting closer and closer as time went on! I was on cloud nine, as I had many cherished memories of the old lakehouse, of which the Whip-poor-wills were a large part!
