Date: 6/9/25 5:19 pm From: Michael Fogleman (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Re: Chuck-will's-widow Video
I've read about the egg-moving behavior which is very interesting! I
haven't seen any long-distance movements with either nest, only gradual
changes from day to day, presumably from regular activities.
For the female that I first found incubating, she has never flushed no
matter how close I get - even a week after the eggs hatched. Of course, I'm
being very careful around her, but I'm still surprised at how confident she
is in relying on her camouflage.
For the other nesting pair, I only found the female and chicks _because_
she flushed when I walked nearby - perhaps 20-30 feet away. But, her
nestlings were already rather developed and well-camouflaged themselves
(better camouflaged than mom, really, I was worried about accidentally
stepping on one and had to use the thermal scope to relocate them even
though they were right in front of me), so the timing might mean it makes
more sense for her to put effort into distracting a potential predator. Or
she's just a more flighty individual. Her flushing makes it harder to get
natural footage, so I mostly left them alone.
Speaking of Birds of the World, it says this of Chucks:
"Not known to cast pellets, but probable due to close taxonomic
relationship of Caprimulgiformes to Strigiformes (Sibley et al. 1988) and
variability in this species' diet."
I found this very interesting, because I got a video of a nestling casting
a pellet! I've already reached out to someone who studies Chucks to see if
anything I've recorded might be of scientific interest.
P.S. a Pileated Woodpecker moving eggs sounds wild! I wonder why though - a
snake approaching?
Michael Fogleman
Cary, NC
On Mon, Jun 9, 2025 at 5:49 PM Christopher Hill <chill...> wrote:
> Yes, great footage (even if I skipped around and didn't watch the whole
> thing).
>
> Whips found/disturbed while incubating eggs may move the nest by picking
> up the eggs in their (giant) mouths and flying them to a new spot, which
> also seems remarkable. Since they basically nest on the bare ground, it's
> not such a big deal to find a new spot and they will do that. I have
> experienced this a couple years ago: flushed a whip off a nest mid-morning,
> saw the egg or eggs (I don't remember if it was one or two). Passed that
> spot 20 minutes later and the egg(s) was/were gone.
>
> Now that I've said that I went and read the Birds of the World account and
> it more or less confirms what I said but says "probably rarely carried in
> the mouth or between the legs." I'm not digging further into the
> literature but I'm betting strongly on the mouth and against the feet/legs
> idea. I've seen photos of both ducks and pileated woodpeckers moving eggs
> in their mouth in flight. "Between the legs" does not sound right to me at
> all.
>
> Chris Hill, Ph.D.
> Professor
> Biology Department
> Coastal Carolina University
> Office: Douglas 207H
> (843) 349-2567
> email: <chill...>
>
> On Jun 9, 2025, at 5:28 PM, Kevin Kubach <carolinabirds...> wrote:
>
> That is incredible footage! What a treat. Thanks for all your effort to
> research, document and share this. About a month ago, I accidentally
> flushed an adult Whip-poor-will in Fant's Grove WMA (Anderson Co., SC) and
> realized I was standing a few
> *Warning: Unusual link*
> This message contains an unusual link, which may lead to a malicious site.
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> That is incredible footage! What a treat. Thanks for all your effort to
> research, document and share this.
>
> About a month ago, I accidentally flushed an adult Whip-poor-will in
> Fant's Grove WMA (Anderson Co., SC) and realized I was standing a few feet
> away from a nestling that I now have learned was probably 3 or so days old
> (feather shafts visible in some places). The next day, I brought my
> spotting scope in order to attempt to view the adult on the nest from a
> distance. Much to my surprise, as I approached carefully, an adult flushed
> from a different spot entirely, revealing two nestlings (the first time,
> nestling #2 was either underneath #1 or had been swept many feet away by
> the adult's eruption into flight, which according to the literature often
> happens and may even serve a purpose in separating the young from "one
> basket" should a predator find the nest). I also learned through all of
> this and further research that the nestlings are capable of moving on their
> own at only a couple days old. Having seen them, I never would have
> expected they could move on their own, but in the context of survival for a
> ground-nesting species, it makes sense. (And Michael's remarkable video
> certainly confirms this.)
>
> Kevin Kubach
> Greenville/Clemson, SC
>
> On Mon, Jun 9, 2025 at 4:14 PM Juanita Roushdy <carolinabirds...>
> wrote:
>
>> Michael,
>>
>> This is a stunning video capture and pure joy to watch - the
>> determination of the nestlings and the patience of the parents unbelievable
>> and a privilege to witness. Thank you so much for sharing it. It certainly
>> made my day. A lot of patience on your part to locate and video the family.
>>
>> Again, thank you.
>>
>> Juanita
>> Bremen, ME formerly from Bald Head Island, NC
>>
>> On Jun 9, 2025, at 2:26 PM, Michael Fogleman (via carolinabirds Mailing
>> List) <carolinabirds...> wrote:
>>
>> Hello friends,
>>
>> I recently discovered a Chuck-will's-widow nest on the Harris Lake Game
>> Lands in New Hill, NC with the use of a thermal scope. I first determined
>> where the male was singing at dusk to figure out roughly where to look. I
>> also did some research on their habitat preferences. Still, it took
>> multiple days of methodical searching with the scope to find anything. But
>> I ultimately found two separate nesting pairs in different areas. I also
>> found one of the males roosting on a few occasions. One nesting pair was a
>> couple weeks ahead of the other in terms of development. The first was
>> still incubating when I found it while the second had fairly large
>> nestlings by the time I found them. I tried the same thing last year with
>> an Eastern Whip-poor-will but had no success.
>>
>> The most exciting part was capturing video of nestlings when they became
>> active at dusk. Lots of interesting behavior. So I wanted to share this
>> video.
>>
>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1htsf__yZF8 >> <https://nam11%20.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D1htsf__yZF8&data=05%7C02%<7Ccarolinabirds...>%7C1d2f6ed6ad824d39f30e08dda783233b%7Ccb72c54e4a314d9eb14a1ea36dfac94c%7C0%7C0%7C638850903862366990%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=O6kn1f01FmaLs4bh9rk%2FvrmxCH9zK4e9m1k3RgoDh9k%3D&reserved=0> >>
>> I believe the nestlings are just a day or two old in this video. I
>> captured the video from behind camo cover, using a 135mm f/1.8 lens for a
>> good balance between focal length and light-gathering abilities. I have
>> lots of photos to share too, perhaps I'll add them to an eBird checklist
>> soon.
>>
>> I'm often asked what my favorite bird is. I think I finally have an
>> answer!
>>
>> Happy birding!
>>
>> Michael Fogleman
>> Cary, NC< br>
>>
>>
>>
>
