POORWILLS seldom seek the vicinity of human habitations, preferring lonely canyons and desolate places where their wierd call is the only voice. When the opalescent twilight fades over the southwestern deserts and the "moon takes up the wondrous tale," Poorwill Poorwill Poorwill gives tenuous life to the silence, with a cadence perfectly attuned to the desolate stillness.
They are nocturnal and even on stormy days are seldom awing until after sunset. Light and sleep stupifies to drowsy conditions which make them easy prey for coyotes.
EGGS: white; occasionally faintly spotted.
Western United States and southern British Columbia; south to Arizona and southern Texas.