Chuck-Will's-Widows

Chuck-will's-widows are nightjars that are present in the Southeast in the spring and summer months. They are insect feeders and have a repetitive call that can be heard from dusk until dawn; they call from the time they move into the area until about late June.  They show up in north Georgia in mid- to late April.  After mid June, they quiet down, raise their brood, then head back down south in the fall.  Although whip-poor-wills are better-known and supposedly include north Georgia as part of their summer range, I have never heard one.  Common nighthawks, another nightjar, are also allegedly in the area, but I haven't heard them here, either--ever.  I did, however, hear them in the early summer in east-central Illinois when I used to live there.

When I first moved to my house in the exurbs of Atlanta in the late 1990s, I heard chucks the first spring.  At the time, my subdivision was one of a few cut into the woods, so the surrounding area was mostly forested. Between my subdivision and the one immediately next to mine is a belt of large trees that weren't taken out--some are on the lots in my subdivision; some are in the next.  I used to sometimes have one there, possibly even on my property, on some nights.  I think I caught a glimpse of one at dusk one summer; it called for a few minutes from the ground inside the tree line, then abruptly stopped. I saw a large dark blur flying away.  Even if not in or next to my own yard, they were always nearby and plainly audible--usually a few could be heard at once, but almost always at least one.  I could usually hear them inside the house.  I asked friends what they might be and they suggested whip-poor-wills; I dug a little deeper and soon identified them as Chuck-will's-widows.

After about 2010, their nearness and numbers changed gradually.  A few years ago I realized that I didn't always hear them anymore.  Now I basically never do, because the area has gotten pretty well-developed. Several hundred acres of woods nearby have been turned into additional subdivisions, strip malls, and warehouses over the last couple of decades.  When I hear them at all here, it's mostly right when they are first coming into the area--presumably as they are heading toward summer nesting spots where their preferred habitat still exists.  This year, I heard one the morning of April 24th, some distance away, at 1 am when the dog decided she needed to go out.  The same thing happened last year: once in April, then basically never again for the rest of the season.

They are definitely coming back into Georgia now--the evening of April 27th, I was at a friend's house that's located in an area much like mine used to be--an isolated subdivision cut into the surrounding forest.  At 9 pm it was obvious they were everywhere.  I could hear several close by.  I can't help feeling a little wistful at their disappearance near my formerly exurban (now suburban) house, much like Sigrid Sanders noted in a column in 2009 (the link at the top of this page has a recording of their call; her column also has a link to a recording).

Development does push them out.  Forty years ago, they were probably common in Gwinnett County, but now probably are relatively rare there.  The same has now happened where I live.  It's not enough to have a little clutch of trees here and there--the spot behind my house where one used to occasionally reside has been unchanged since 2001 or so.  There have to be a lot of such places available nearby to support a population.  That's why I think I only hear them early in the season--they'll stop for a night in my neighborhood when first arriving, but they won't stay.  There aren't enough others here.

For now, if I want to hear them--and I do--I'll have to jump in the car and drive a ways--though not all that far.  I'm now in the suburbs, but the forest isn't far away.