A couple of birders were peering at a perched bird just west of the west fence at Crow Valley Campground, just north of the northernmost campsite as I walked up, curious as to what they were seeing. What's that, I asked?
-- Poor-will! The bird was perched on a horizontal fallen branch about a foot off the ground, maybe 15 feet away, motionless and all took great care not to flush it as it slept. At
first I could not even tell that it was actually facing us. The distinctive mark was a broad white band at the tip of the tail, and this was a "thick" band, with dark feathers more proximally, not just the tail tip. When we see Poor-Wills fly off
from the pine needle or leaf-covered ground, we see small white corners at the tail tip - the upper side of the tail. I had never seen a Poor-will perched on a twig, nor seen the under side of the tail.
Who has seen a goatsucker perched like this, showing its under tail pattern?
I took some pix, but Mark Chavez took better photos and will post them soon, as he has a photo web site. At least 15 birders all got to admire this bird, taking photos. A Poor-will would be a life bird for some of the birders who were visiting from Ohio. An Eastern WPW would be a bit more fun for us locals.
The tail also appeared longish, extending beyond the primary tips.
Sibley shows drawings of an Eastern Whip-poor-will in flight and the tail pattern matches the photos I took.
Let's look at Mark's images and see what we can see.
Maybe others can show us photos too.
Joe Roller,
Denver
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