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Photo © Amy Flom
Eastern Whip-poor-will (Antrostomus vociferous), a Special Concern species strongly suspected to be declining across its range, nests on the ground in an open understory within oak and maple upland hardwood forests in southern Wisconsin, and in upland mixed deciduous-pine forests in the north. In other parts of its range, they may attempt multiple broods, it is unknown whether they do so in Wisconsin. The recommended avoidance period is May 10 - August 10.
The table below provides information about the protected status - both state and federal - and the rank (S and G Ranks) for Eastern Whip-poor-will (Antrostomus vociferus). See the Working List Key for more information about abbreviations. Counties shaded blue have documented occurrences for this species in the Wisconsin Natural Heritage Inventory database. The map is provided as a general reference of where occurrences of this species meet NHI data standards and is not meant as a comprehensive map of all observations.
Note: Species recently added to the NHI Working List may temporarily have blank occurrence maps.
| Summary Information | |
|---|---|
| State Status | SC/M |
| Federal Status in Wisconsin | none |
| State Rank | S2B |
| Global Rank | G5 |
| Tracked by NHI | Y |
| WWAP | SGCN |
A guidance document is not available at this time. However, the bird calendar [PDF] contains dates for avoiding impacts to this and other rare Wisconsin birds when planning management activities.
Click to view a larger version. Please considering donating a photo to the Natural Heritage Conservation Program for educational uses. Photo use
Eastern Whip-poor-will on nest.
Photo © Amy Flom.
Eastern Whip-poor-will nest with eggs.
Photo © Amy Flom.
The Whip-poor-will has declined in many parts of Wisconsin but is holding on in some of the more open, dry forests of Wisconsin's sandy regions.
Photo © Jack Bartholmai.
Photo © Jack Bartholmai.
Photo © Jack Bartholmai.
The table below lists the natural communities that are associated with Eastern Whip-poor-will. Only natural communities for which Eastern Whip-poor-will is "high" (score=3) or "moderate" (score=2) associated are shown. See the key to association scores for complete definitions. Please see the Wildlife Action Plan to learn how this information was developed.
The table below lists the ecological landscape association scores for Eastern Whip-poor-will. The scores correspond to the map (3=High, 2=Moderate, 1=Low, 0=None). For more information, please see the Wildlife Action Plan.
Ecological priorities are the combinations of natural communities and ecological landscapes that provide Wisconsin's best opportunities to conserve important habitats for a given Species of Greatest Conservation Need. The 10 highest scoring combinations are considered ecological priorities and are listed below. More than 10 combinations are listed if multiple combinations tied for 10th place. For more information, please see the Wildlife Action Plan.
* Ecological priority score is a relative measure that is not meant for comparison between species. This score does not consider socio-economical factors that may dictate protection and/or management priorities differently than those determined solely by ecological analysis. Further, a low ecological priority score does not imply that management or preservation should not occur on a site if there are important reasons for doing so locally.
Conservation actions respond to issues or threats, which adversely affect species of greatest conservation need (SGCN) or their habitats. Besides actions such as restoring wetlands or planting resilient tree species in northern communities, research, surveys and monitoring are also among conservation actions described in the WWAP because lack of information can threaten our ability to successfully preserve and care for natural resources.