Instructions
Look at photos of birds; the whippoorwill is slightly larger than a robin, weighing about two ounces. They're brownish, gray, black and white, colors that help them blend into their surroundings. A whippoorwill has a short thick head, a large mouth, a small bill, a black throat and while its feet may be small and weak, it has long, strong wings.
Note the nocturnal whippoorwill can be found in North America, Canada, Cuba and Central America. It migrates from the north range for winter and likes hanging around in forests and woodlands.
Know the whippoorwill's favorite food is insects, which they catch while flying, often taking off from a perch after scouting its surroundings for a meal.
Research the nesting habits of the monogamous and territory-defending whippoorwill. The female nests on the ground, adding no material to her nest as the season progresses. In late May or early June, after a 19 or 20 day incubation, she'll produce two white eggs.
Learn more about the whippoorwill. For instance, few people can identify them by sight, but just about anybody knows them by their call, which the whippoorwill may repeat 400 times without stopping.
How to Identify a Whippoorwill
Century-old folklore predicted if a whippoorwill called once, a young lady wouldn't get married for a year, but if it called twice, she'd marry soon. Some people believed a woman could wish for marriage if she heard a whippoorwill song. While this bird's appearance isn't outstanding, its "WHIP-poor-WEEA" is the stuff of which legends are spun, making it easy for just about anyone to identify a whippoorwill.