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Photo by Terry VanBuskirk
Photo Copyright Terry VanBuskirk
Common Poorwill
Phalaenoptilus nuttallii
NatureServe conservation status
Global (G-rank): G5
State (S-rank): S4S5B
External links
General information
The common poorwill, Phalaenoptilus nuttallii, breeds in the western United States, as well as in small areas of southwestern Canada and northern Mexico. It winters in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The common poorwill is common throughout Utah as a breeding species during summer. Its habitats include arid open grassland and shrubland areas. It feeds on night-flying insects, mainly moths and beetles.
This species nests on the ground, laying two eggs in a slight scrape or hollow, often partially shaded by a shrub or rock. Both parents incubate the eggs, which hatch after twenty to twenty-one days. The young, cared for by both parents, first take flight at twenty to twenty-three days after hatching. The parent birds are known to move their eggs or young in response to disturbance.
The common name poorwill is intended to be suggestive of the bird's call. This bird is exceptional in its tolerance for both heat and cold. It readily enters a state of deep torpor in response to cold or hunger, and has been considered to hibernate. This was recognized by the Hopi people long ago, and the Hopi name for this bird, holchoko, means "the sleeping one."
Phenology
Has been observed in winter hibernation in California and New Mexico (Ryser 1985; Terres 1980). More active on nights with bright moonlight versus nights with none (Auk 109:315-320).
Species range
BREEDS: southern British Columbia, southeastern Montana, northwestern South Dakota, Nebraska, and southwestern Iowa south on west coast from central California to southern Baja California, and through eastern Kansas and central Texas to central mainland of Mexico. WINTERS: from central California, southern Arizona, and southern Texas south to limits of breeding range in Mexico.
Migration
Breeding populations in most of U.S. move south for winter. Found year-round in southern half of range.
Habitat
Scrubby and bushy areas, prairie, desert, rocky canyons, open woodland and broken forest, primarily in arid or semiarid habitats (AOU 1983). Found in valleys and foothills, mixed chaparral-grassland, and pinyon-juniper habitat. Nests in open areas on a bare site.
Food habits
Insectivorous. Feeds on or close to the ground at night. Feeds on night-flying moths, beetles, grasshoppers, locusts, etc. Catches insects on the ground or vaults upward and captures insects in the air. Sit-and-wait predator.
Ecology
Males set up territories up to 500 meters across early in the breeding season (Kalcounis et al. 1992).
Reproductive characteristics
Breeding begins in late March in south to late May in north. Both sexes alternate incubating 2 eggs. The nestlings are semi-precocial and downy.
References
- Csada, R. D., and R. M. Brigham. 1992. Common poorwill. Birds of North America 32: 1–13.
- Choate, E. A. 1985. The dictionary of American bird names. Harvard Common, Boston. xiv + 226 pp.
