Synchronized Whip-poor-will Migration

By attaching GPS tags to Eastern Whip-poor-wills, biologists discovered some surprising new information about the long migrations that eastern whip-poor-wills make from their Midwest nesting range to wintering areas in southern Mexico and Guatemala. The results showed that Eastern Whip-poor-wills from across the Midwest migrated along a similar route at nearly the same time in the fall that concentrated the birds in a relatively small area that includes parts of Oklahoma, Arkansas, and eastern Texas on a single day in early October.
“About half of the entire population of whip-poor-wills nest in Midwest states, and our findings indicate their migration south is very synchronized,” explained Christopher Tonra, co-author of the study and Associate Professor of Avian Wildlife Ecology at Ohio State University. He added that this information highlights a danger to the Midwest whip-poor-will population, which has declined by nearly 70 percent during recent decades. Read more








