Whippoorwill

Eastern whip-poor-wills breed in deciduous or mixed woods across central and southeastern Canada and the eastern United States, and migrate to the southeastern United States and to eastern Mexico and Central America for the winter. These birds forage at night, catching insects in flight, and normally sleep during the day. Eastern whip-poor-wills nest on the ground, in shaded locations among dead leaves, and usually lay two eggs at a time. The bird will commonly remain on the nest unless almost stepped upon. The whip-poor-will has been split into two species. Eastern populations are now referred to as the eastern whip-poor-will. The disjunct population in southwestern United States and Mexico is now referred to as the Mexican whip-poor-will, Antrostomus arizonae. The two populations were split based on range, different vocalizations, different egg coloration, and DNA sequencing showing differentiation.

, Pennsylvania]] The eastern whip-poor-will is currently in decline, though they remain fairly common. In 2017, the eastern whip-poor-will was uplisted from least concern to near threatened on the IUCN Red List on the basis of citizen science observations demonstrating a decline in populations of the eastern whip-poor-will by over 60% between 1970 and 2014. Several reasons for the decline are proposed, such as loss of early successional forest habitat related to fire suppression and habitat destruction, Pesticides and intensified agriculture have led to declines in the flying insect populations that the eastern whip-poor-will depends on. BirdLife International has stated that initiatives like the Conservation Reserve Program will be crucial in conserving the species and reversing its decline.