Other forms: whippoorwills
A whippoorwill is a medium-sized, brownish or grayish bird with large, dark eyes, and a short bill. Whippoorwills are mainly nocturnal and can be found in North and Central America.
It's fairly rare to see a whippoorwill, as it's active at night, or at dusk or dawn, when it comes out to fly and catch insects. The speckled whippoorwill has a somewhat flat head, and it often perches lengthwise on low branches, helping it blend in with the bark. The whippoorwill is a member of the nightjar family—so named because their repetitive calls "jar" the quiet of the night. The name whippoorwill is onomatopoeic: The name mimics the sound the bird makes, with the accent on the first and third syllables, WHIP-poor-WILL. It may repeat this haunting song hundreds of times without pause.