Where are they found?

Whip-poor-will range map

Whip-poor-wills prefer to nest in dry, well-shaded woodlands with little or no underbrush near extensive open areas for feeding. Pine barrens appear to be ideal habitat and are among the few places where Whip-poor-wills remain common. However the species also once thrived in early successional stages of deciduous and mixed forest. They are not especially shy of people and were common when much of Massachusetts was a patchwork of open farmland and woodlots; they will even tolerate moderately developed suburbs.

Whip-poor-wills range throughout most of eastern North America; and there is a separate western population in Arizona and New Mexico. They are long-distance migrants wintering from Florida and the Gulf states into Central America at least as far as Nicaragua. The first calls are typically heard in Massachusetts in the last week of April, though there is some evidence that males may arrive a week or so before they start to sing. Calling diminishes greatly in mid to late summer and most birds apparently depart by the end of September. Resting migrants are often discovered in city parks where they appear oblivious to curious on-lookers.