This relative of the
whip-poor-will often nests on the ground in scrub. Chucks
swoop for flying insects at night and, with their
excellent camouflage, hide during the day. They sometimes
rest on dirt roads after dark, startling drivers with
their reflective red eyes. The persistently repeated
four-syllable "chuck
wills WID o, chuck wills WID o" is a familiar summer
night sound throughout the rural southeastern US, but you
have to be close to hear the first syllable. (The smaller
whip-poor-will is absent from the southeast in summer,
but sometimes sings its faster tempo 3-syllable
"WHIP poor WILL, WHIP poor WILL" before
migrating north in April and May.)
Chucks don't build a real nest. Instead they lay their two eggs
directly on the ground. If the eggs are disturbed, the
mother carries them in her mouth to another location. This tiny nestling, discovered in a central Florida scrub, awaits the return of its
mother.
This relative of the
whip-poor-will often nests on the ground in scrub. Chucks
swoop for flying insects at night and, with their
excellent camouflage, hide during the day. They sometimes
rest on dirt roads after dark, startling drivers with
their reflective red eyes. The persistently repeated
four-syllable "chuck
wills WID o, chuck wills WID o" is a familiar summer
night sound throughout the rural southeastern US, but you
have to be close to hear the first syllable. (The smaller
whip-poor-will is absent from the southeast in summer,
but sometimes sings its faster tempo 3-syllable
"WHIP poor WILL, WHIP poor WILL" before
migrating north in April and May.)
Chucks don't build a real nest. Instead they lay their two eggs
directly on the ground. If the eggs are disturbed, the
mother carries them in her mouth to another location. This tiny nestling, discovered in a central Florida scrub, awaits the return of its
mother.
