Backyard and Beyond

Starting out from Brooklyn, an amateur naturalist explores our world.

As John Burroughs said, “The place to observe nature is where you are.”

Life Goatsucker!

My first ever goatsucker, so called because of the wackily mistaken belief that the nighthawks and nightjars suckled goats. Actually, they are efficient nocturnal insect eaters.

This handsome scamp was in the Midwood in Prospect Park, midway between Rick’s Place & the Boulder Bridge. I believe it is one of the nightjars, a whip-poor-will, Caprimulgus vociferus, primarily because a) it doesn’t look as big as a Chuck-will’s-widow (the birds’ common names are based on what their song sounds like) is supposed to be, and b) the common nighthawk has pale bars on the primaries and strong white neck mark, both missing here. It was, in short, a process of elimination.

And other opinion seems to confirm that it is indeed a whip-poor-will.
Listen to one. Since our bird is thought to be a female, however, a half dozen of us did not hear this at twilight.

mthew

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14 responses to “Life Goatsucker!”

  1. Rob

    Excellent sighting! How in the world did you manage to see this bird?! Got the message and ran out to see it. Looking at your pics and the ones I took, I concur that it is a Whip-poor-will. Going out again tonight to listen for it.

    Reply
    1. mthew

      It was pure luck of course. I was looking for warblers, naturally, and saw something anomalous. (For those who haven’t seen it, the sun was behind it, making for difficult viewing) Branch-mourning dove-raptor-owl (an oddly headless owl!) quickly ran through my thoughts, and then hey, it’s a goatsucker! Assumed nighthawks were more likely here, but Sibley pointed me otherwise. Saw Hilary and Co. and called them over, convinced them, too.

      Reply
      1. Hilary Salk

        How fun to have spread the word! Amazing sighting! Great technological feats of identification!

  2. Peter

    Matthew,

    Awesome find! It’s likely only the third or fourth record for Prospect. Hopefully your great find will be shared by many.A bird for the year !

    Good birding,

    peter

    Reply
  3. Peter

    Oh,correction on the records.its the 4th since 1990.I did a quick count, your find is the 18th overall. More on that tomorrow when I do a records search.

    Peter

    Reply
  4. amarilla

    Wow, Matthew. This will rank among those odd synergies given the fact that I’ve been especially wondering, in the last day or two, if I’d ever get to see a whip-poor-will around here. And now I have, sort of.

    Reply
    1. mthew

      Perhaps you’ve been subconsciously hearing it calling. Windsor Terrace is a lot closer to it then Cobble Hill http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Whip-poor-will/sounds.

      Reply
  5. Robert Bate

    Thanks Matthew!! A life bird for me too and evidently the all time most cooperative goatsucker. Thanks again

    Reply
  6. matt

    nice find. i am jealous. birder’s world had a nice feature on these goatsuckers this month (or last?). excellent timing.

    Reply
  7. NJUrbanForest

    Good Post!

    Reply
  8. Goatsuckers | Backyard and Beyond

    […] in the Caprimulgidae are are the nightjars, like the Whip-poor-will, one of which I spotted in Prospect Park a few years ago and the Chuck-will’s-widow, which I’ve only heard. (A few lucky Brooklynites saw one […]

    Reply
  9. Chuck-will’s-widow | Backyard and Beyond

    […] 2010, I found a Whip-poor-will in Prospect Park. Since then, these related species have been moved from the Caprimulgus to the […]

    Reply
  10. 6th Anniversary Highlights | Backyard and Beyond

    […] My claim to fame as a local birder. But it was all luck. […]

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  11. Nighthawk Wednesday | Backyard and Beyond

    […] Eastern Whip-poor-will in Brooklyn. Here are a Common Pauraque and a Lesser Nighthawk in Texas. Here’s a […]

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