[piasa]

Nighthawks , chuckwillswidows and whippoorwills are related but their Irish one is its own species.

[ek_hornbeck]

Nighthawks , chuckwillswidows and whippoorwills

I see and hear nighthawks and whippoorwills much less frequently now than I did decades ago, their numbers are really down compared to what they once were, I kind of miss listening to the whippoorwills at night. The article says that European nightjars were once common in the UK and Ireland as well.

[ek_hornbeck]

Interesting piece of trivia - the common poorwill (similar to the whippoorwill, but with a call containing one less syllable) is one of the only birds that can hibernate.

I've seen poorwills in the desert, they're almost perfectly camouflaged and sit dead still until you're right next to them (when they startle you by taking off).