Why are They Declining?

Whip-poor-will - Photo by Sandy Selesky

Once common and widespread, Whip-poor-wills have undergone a steady decline that has seemed especially steep to many observers during the last 30 years. In Massachusetts, they continue to be common in undisturbed pine-oak barrens on the South Shore, Cape Cod, and the Islands, but are few and far between elsewhere. Like many aspects of Whip-poor-will life, there is little certainty about the causes. It may be that as our forests mature and our farmland decreases, there is much less suitable habitat for the species away from the sandy coastal plain. An alternative explanation is that suburban sprawl has resulted in increased populations of dogs, cats, raccoons, skunks and other predators that wreak havoc on ground nesting birds. Some have argued that pesticides and introduced invertebrate parasites are devastating native insect populations on which Whip-poor-wills depend exclusively for food. It may well be that all of these factors and others yet undiscovered are part of the story.