Reprinted from The Glenite [newsletter of the Residents of Beverly Glen], Summer 2023, p. 6
Of all the nocturnal bird calls in our canyon, the most frequently heard is that of the Great Horned Owl, with a higher and lower stuttering call of hoo-h’HOO-hoo-hoo. But during spring evenings in the Glen [Beverly Glen, eastern Santa Monica Mountains, City of Los Angeles] a different, higher-pitched bird call can be heard echoing from the chaparral. Poor-will. Poor-will. Poor-will. It is the distinctive call of the Common Poorwill.
I saw one, but only once, having flushed it from a gravel patch during an after-dark walk. It was an odd-shaped, dark blob in the rocks and then it took flight without a sound. At first, I was startled, then delighted to have seen such an elusive bird. I wrote in my notes, “Startled a poorwill, up from the neighbor’s driveway, silent on sharp wings.”
Poorwills are part of a group of related birds that include the nightjars and nighthawks, which in North America also includes two different species of nighthawks, two species of whip-poor-wills, Chuck-will’s-widow and a few others. All are aerial insectivores, which survive exclusively by eating insects that they capture while flying after dark to hunt moths, flies, and other nocturnal insects. Common Poorwill does this by sitting at a location and then making short flights upward to capture prey. Their mouths are almost comically large for their bodies and bordered by stiff feathers that help them feel their prey, which helps guide them into their mouth. The feathers on the rest of their body are extremely soft, making their flight silent.
Common Poorwill is a year-round resident in the Glen and lays eggs in April through June. The nest is no more than a scrape on the ground in the open, with the bird relying on its camouflage coloration for protection. Males call from March through October. They use the call, which they start after dusk and sometimes can be heard later at night when the moon is full, to defend their territory from other males. Where we hear poor-will, they are saying “it’s mine.”
In winter, species in the nightjar subfamily lower their heart rate, body temperature, and metabolism at night to enter a state of inactivity called torpor. Common Poorwills can continue this mini-hibernation for days or weeks at a time, allowing the species to conserve energy when food is scarce and temperatures are low. For this reason, the Hopi name for Common Poorwill means “the sleeping one.”
It is extraordinary to be able to hear, and every so often, see, poorwills inside the city limits of Los Angeles. They will only persist, however, if the remaining hillsides with their native chaparral are left intact, and the light pollution does not worsen. To protect them, and other intriguing denizens of the night, keep your lights low and warm-colored, or even better turn them out when not needed or put them on a motion detector. Let the birds eat the insects rather than using insecticides. Then listen each spring at dusk for the first poor-will, knowing you’ve done your part to protect the nighttime call of the canyon that has been heard here for thousands of years.
Illustration: Florence Merriam Bailey, Handbook of the Birds of the Western United States, including the Great Plains, Great Basin, Pacific Slope, and lower Rio Grande Valley (1902).
August 27, 2023
Travis Longcore 