whippoorwill
Night-calling bird
A whippoorwill is a nocturnal bird of eastern North America known for its loud, repetitive call that sounds like its name: The whippoorwill kept us awake all night.
Related to nightjars, it hunts insects on the wing at dusk and dawn.
The call has become a symbol of rural nighttime in American literature and folk music.
Nocturnal insectivorous bird
- goatsuckerNocturnal insect-catching bird
- chuck-will's-widowLarge nocturnal insect-eating bird
- insectivoreOrganism eating bugs primarily
- feathersBird's lightweight covering
plumage · beak · wings · nesting · eggs · chicks · fledgling · migration
Onset of darkness
- duskDimming after sundown
- twilightLight after sunset
- darknessTotal absence of light
- moonlightReflected solar radiance, nocturnal
crepuscular · gloaming · nighttime · midnight · starlight · evening · moths · insects
Prophetic indicator
- superstitionBaseless belief in omens
- legendUnverified traditional tale
- mythTraditional explanatory tale
- loreTraditional knowledge transmitted orally
rural · portent · premonition · ghostly · eerie · haunting · storytelling
Beyond easy comprehension
- elusiveHard to find
- hauntingDisturbingly unforgettable
- etherealDelicate beyond earthly measure
- lonesomeSad from isolation
melancholy · nostalgia · countryside · woods · forest · solitude · wistful · evocative
Obscure in meaning
- concealmentAct of hiding something
- blendCombine into mixture
- mottledHaving irregular color patches
- ground-nestingLaying eggs on land
disguise · hidden · invisible · brown · gray · patterned · underbrush · thicket
nightjar
Nocturnal insectivorous bird
- goatsuckerNocturnal insect-catching bird
- chuck-will's-widowLarge nocturnal insect-eating bird
- insectivoreOrganism eating bugs primarily
feathers · plumage · beak · wings · nesting · eggs · chicks · fledgling · migration · habitat
nightfall
Onset of darkness
moonlight · crepuscular · gloaming · nighttime · midnight · starlight · evening · moths · insects · hunting
omen
Prophetic indicator
- superstitionBaseless belief in omens
- legendUnverified traditional tale
- mythTraditional explanatory tale
lore · rural · portent · premonition · ghostly · eerie · haunting · storytelling
mysterious
Beyond easy comprehension
lonesome · melancholy · nostalgia · countryside · woods · forest · solitude · wistful · evocative · literary
cryptic
Obscure in meaning
- concealmentAct of hiding something
- blendCombine into mixture
- mottledHaving irregular color patches
ground-nesting · disguise · hidden · invisible · brown · gray · patterned · underbrush · thicket · undetected
call
Contact by phone
- repetitionAct of redoing
- vocalizationProducing sounds with voice
- birdsongAvian musical vocalizations
singing · chorus · serenade · acoustics · resonance · cadence · rhythm · melody · trilling · echo
- nightjarsnightjar, nighthawk, whip-poor-will
- birdsrobin, crow, eagle, owl, duck
- nature soundsbirdsong, wolf howl, crickets, wind, rain
- nocturnal creaturesowl, bat, bats, raccoon, opossum
- rural Americanafarm, church, farmer, covered bridges, country stores
- Appalachian wildlifeblack bear, white-tailed deer, raccoon, wild turkey, chipmunk
whippoorwillrobin
Small orange-breasted thrush
meadowlark · lark · rooster · cardinal · bluebird
whippoorwillnightingale
Thrush famed for night singing
mockingbird · song thrush · wood thrush · canary · lyrebird