Goatsucker at Crow Valley, Weld, Common Poor-Will vs ?? Eastern Whip-poor-will??

[Joe Roller]

A couple of birders were peering at a perched bird just west of the west fence at Crow Valley Campground, just north of the northernmost campsite as I walked up, curious as to what they were seeing. What's that, I asked?

Poor-will! The bird was perched on a horizontal fallen branch about a foot off the ground, maybe 15 feet away,  motionless and all took great care not to flush it as it slept.  At

first I could not even tell that it was actually facing us. The distinctive mark was a broad white band at the tip of the tail, and this was a "thick" band, with dark feathers more proximally, not just the tail tip. When we see Poor-Wills fly off

from the pine needle or leaf-covered ground, we see small white corners at the tail tip - the upper side of the tail. I had never seen a Poor-will perched on a twig, nor seen the under side of the tail.

Who has seen a goatsucker perched like this, showing its under tail pattern? 

I took some pix, but Mark Chavez took better photos and will post them soon, as he has a photo web site. At least 15 birders all got to admire this bird, taking photos. A Poor-will would be a life bird for some of the birders who were visiting from Ohio. An Eastern WPW would be a bit more fun for us locals.

The tail also appeared longish, extending beyond the primary tips.

Sibley shows drawings of an Eastern Whip-poor-will in flight and the tail pattern matches the photos I took.

Let's look at Mark's images and see what we can see.

Maybe others can show us photos too.

Joe Roller, 

Denver