Date: 3/28/24 4:35 pm From: Kevin Kubach (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Whip-poor-will site fidelity
Good Evening. From a science standpoint, this might not be all that groundbreaking (i.e., Eastern Whip-poor-wills are probably just like many/most other birds in returning to precise breeding territories), but it's still pretty cool. I had a reunion of sorts a couple weeks ago with a "vocally banded" Whip-poor-will in Fant's Grove WMA near Clemson, SC.
Last year, on 6 March 2023, I essentially found the birds just as they were arriving and beginning to sort out their territories. In this recording from that date, you can hear one bird singing from the beginning and it is eventually joined by a second bird (first heard at about 0:13 and a few times after that): https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://ebird.org/checklist/S130298613__;!!OToaGQ!pppcCxeEi6gy_C-vcnm6ESKuUCCa6_FM1_4Ji51o46rS1XqkMI5SbW3slqh9oaR1BSoHTJN-Sax4CiTywq8j$ . The second bird was distinguishable by its slightly higher-pitched "WILL!" note (to the ear it is much more notable than can actually be seen on the spectrogram), and this bird apparently won the rights to that particular patch, as I would always find him singing there. I gave him a really creative name--"B21" (a trail marker nearby).
He routinely used the same four or five singing locations marking the periphery of his patch, including a favorite horizontal log about 1 foot off the ground that was a former standing snag used by nesting Red-headed Woodpeckers. He was in this same area virtually every time I checked from March into June 2023.
On 18 March 2024, as I approached the spot, I heard a familiar voice. (I realize there's always a chance another higher-than-average singer landed in the same spot, but he rotated among all the same singing spots as well.) He was about a week and a half later arriving this year, but most of the other birds were as well. Since the 18th, he has been there every time I've checked.
