When you think of wildlife photography, you often think of spending hours in the woods, sitting in one place, watching and observing and capturing the perfect moment of time of a critter. Well, nothing could be further from the truth. Most wildlife images you see are well planned out, and researched. Many times, it takes hours of preparation, researching where a species exists in populations large enough to increase the chances of seeing one, going during the season they are most active, driving to get to these locations, knowing your camera gear well enough to capture the images you have in your mind. And the list goes on and on.

I was thinking about this the other evening when I was standing in a cemetery in the dark, hoping to get lucky enough to capture an image of a nocturnal bird. All of my research brought me to this location, on this particular evening for a very special bird, the Eastern Whip-poor-will (Antrostomus vociferus).

The Whip-poor-will, is a medium size bird in the nightjar family. I know, right now you are thinking, what the heck is a nightjar family? This family of birds that are all similar looking, are nocturnal, hunt insects on the wing (while flying), have large eyes, and an exceptional largemouth opening called a gap. You might be familiar with the Night-hawk which is also in the same family.

Whip-poor-wills are well camouflaged with brown feathers with white spots. This allows them to blend into their environment. They sleep during the day but when the sun goes down, they wake up to hunt for night flying insects. In spring the males give a whistle-like loud and repetitive call. They start calling when the sun goes down and call for several hours in a row. The call sounds like it is saying its name, whip-poor-will. Its name is onomatopoeically and it’s how this bird got its name. Many people have heard their calls, but few ever get to see this bird.

I know right now many of you reading this are thinking to yourself, I used to hear this bird when you were young. Or maybe some of you are lucky enough to still hear this bird. The Eastern Whip-poor-will has been declining in population. Since the 1970’s the Whip-poor-will has over a 60 percent decline in population. This is a massive decline across its range. The reason for the decline is multi-fold. Loss of forest habitat, fire suppression which changes the forest landscape, predation from feral cats and dogs, and the worst one is poisoning by insecticides. Widespread use of insecticides bioaccumulates in the birds causing death.

Whip-poor-wills nest on the ground. Females usually choose a shady spot with lots of leaves covering the ground. Females lay only two eggs and incubate for 19-21 days. She relies on her camouflage coloring to be undetected. Both parents help with incubation and help feed the young when they hatch. Some studies show that Whip-poor-wills synchronize nesting with the phases of the moon. As a result, the chicks hatch about 10 days before the next full moon.

Back in the cemetery, I was waiting on a beautiful spring evening for the sun to go down and right on cue the Whip-poor-will started to call. I was able to capture just one image of this bird after two hours of trying to locate it, but I think it was well worth all the planning and research. Until next time…

Stan Tekiela is an author / naturalist and wildlife photographer who travels the world to capture images of wildlife. He can be followed at www.Instagram.com and www.Facebook.com. He can be contacted via his website at www.NatureSmart.com.