Why Do Whippoorwill Call at Night

Male sings at night to defend territory and to attract a mate. Courtship behavior not well known; male approaches female on ground with much head-bobbing, bowing, and sidling about. Nest site is on ground, in shady woods but often near the edge of a clearing, on open soil covered with dead leaves.

What does it mean when you hear a whippoorwill at night?

Whippoorwills singing near a house were an omen of death, or at least of bad luck. … If an Omaha tribe Native American heard a whippoorwill’s called invitation, he or she was advised to decline it. If the bird then stopped calling, a person who had answered would die.

What time of year do Whip-poor-wills call?

Calls. The male’s emphatic, chanted whip-poor-will, sometimes repeated for hours on end, is a classic sound of warm summer nights in the countryside of the East. It commonly appears in regional songs and literature.