They're back. As I wrote a couple of years ago, Chuck-will's-widows are migratory nightjars that are present throughout the south during the spring and summer. In my old exurb-that-became-a-suburb, they became less common and finally disappeared over the 20 years that I lived there. Development pushed them out--they won't call from underneath a tree in a supermarket parking lot; they need large swaths of forest.
I now live again in a place where they sing throughout the spring, so all is well on that count. One thing that has surprised me, however, is learning how spotty they can be, even in good habitat. I can always hear them in the back of the house, but out in the front by the road, not so much (this is true even without traffic). There are areas nearby that are teeming with them, and other areas nearby where they cannot be heard at all.
I don't know what their status as a species is: the Cornell University site cites data suggesting that their numbers may have declined 70% over the 50 years between 1966 and 2015. In some areas they have been all but eliminated--such as my former neighborhood--but that population may have simply shifted elsewhere. Tree cover in the Southeast may or may not be down...but it may well be that the type of cover they want is lower now than it was back in 1966. Individual trees or small isolated copses won't get it done for them.
I'm glad they're in my new neighborhood. I hope they stay.
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