Species

Chuck-will's-widow

Antrostomus carolinensis

The largest nightjar in North America, whose name is its call, repeated through southern summer nights.

Photo Unknown photographer (opens in a new tab) / iNaturalist, CC0 1.0 (opens in a new tab)

Communication

At a glance

Size: About 28 to 32 cm long
Weight: About 95 to 190 g
Habitat: Pine and oak woods, woodland edges and forested neighbourhoods
Diet: Large flying insects such as moths and beetles; occasionally small birds
In Georgia: A common summer resident, April to September
Voice: A loud, repeated "chuck-WILL'S-WID-ow", mostly at dusk and dawn
Rabies vector: No

Identification

Key marks: Large, cryptic brown and buff bird; huge mouth; rounded wings; males show white on the inner tail feathers
Told apart from: Eastern whip-poor-will, which is smaller and greyer with a faster call
Told apart from: Common nighthawk, which has pointed wings with a white bar
Where to look: Heard at dusk from woods; sometimes seen on roads at night, eyes shining red in headlights

Behaviour

Chuck-will's-widows hunt from perches and by flying low through open woods, taking moths and beetles in their wide mouths. By day they rest on the ground or along a branch, hidden by their bark-like colours.

Why they matter

These nightjars eat large moths and beetles at night, and their call is one of the defining sounds of a southern summer. They have declined in many areas, possibly because of fewer large insects and the loss of open woods.

Reproduction and lifecycle

Nest — No nest; eggs laid on leaf litter on the forest floor
Eggs — Usually two
Incubation — About 20 days
Chicks — Downy and able to shuffle short distances soon after hatching
Flight — At about two to three weeks
Lifespan — Several years

Living around people

Nightjars rest on quiet roads at night and are often hit by cars; driving slowly on wooded roads after dark helps.
A nightjar on the ground in the day is usually resting on its nest or roost and relying on camouflage.

Misconceptions

Every nightjar call is a whip-poor-will. In most of Georgia the calling bird is the chuck-will's-widow.
Goatsuckers drink milk from goats. The old name comes from a myth; they eat insects.

Related species

Seasonal activity

When this species breeds, and where it spends the rest of the year. The notes say what it is doing each month.

Breeding and active nests by month for this species
	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Breeding	Jan: no	Feb: no	Mar: no	Apr: no	May: no	Jun: no	Jul: no	Aug: no	Sep: no	Oct: no	Nov: no	Dec: no
Active nests	Jan: no	Feb: no	Mar: no	Apr: no	May: no	Jun: no	Jul: no	Aug: no	Sep: no	Oct: no	Nov: no	Dec: no
Notes	In Central America and the Caribbean	In the tropics	First arrivals in south Georgia	Arriving; calling begins	Nesting	Nesting; calling at its peak	Young fledging	Calling fades	Migrating south	Last birds leaving	In the tropics	In the tropics

Where it lives

Recorded in 35 states and provinces. Each one links to the other animals there, and to the rehabilitators licensed for them.

Canada

Mexico

If you found one

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