OK. Consider me schooled.
I didn't know either until about a year ago I recorded one on the Merlin app and it said Chucks Will Widow. I had never heard of it before and it's definitely what I have always called a Whipporwill. According to some bird guys that were on Gamekeepers last week, Whippoorwills are typically found north of Alabama. He said most of what we are hearing in the deep south is most likely the Wills Widow
That’s correct. On occasion I’ll hear an actual whip-poor-will, but I’d say 90%+ are Chuck-wills-widows. Almost everybody calls them whip-poor-wills, but they are not. Their song is very different from the WPW.
