Chuck-will's-widow

Saturday morning Moria Darnell and I were up early to survey Golden-cheeked Warblers at The Nature Conservancy's Barton Creek Habitat Preserve. Luckily it wasn't rained out and the survey went well. But I think I was most excited before we left the house. At about 5:20 as we ate breakfast I thought I heard a Chuck-will's-widow singing. I opened the back door and sure enough, we heard one loud and clear singing in my backyard! These members of the nightjar family have a song that is similar to a Whip-poor-will. They are usually a bird that you only hear out in the country during the summer. The only reason this one was in my backyard was that it was just passing through on its way north. It sang for less than 5 minutes in the quiet morning and it was bird number 201 on my neighborhood list.