[texbirds] Re: can the whip-poor-wills be told apart
- From: "Mark Lockwood" <Mark.Lockwood@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 3 May 2012 13:18:40 -0500
Dear Anthony,
The two species of whip-poor-wills are quite distinctive visually if the
bird in question was seen in good light. Eastern Whips are
predominantly and obviously gray, again in good observing conditions,
while Mexican Whips are brown. They are not rufescent like a
Chuck-will's-widow. If the bird happened to be a male, the tail pattern
of these two taxa are also very different with Eastern Whips showing
more than twice as much white as a Mexican Whip. With females,
differentiation in poor light of a flying bird would be problematic in
my opinion. My feeling is that the Whips in the Lubbock area are going
to be Easterns, but we have a lot to learn about the dispersal potential
of Mexican Whips.
Mark
Mark Lockwood
402 E. Harriet Ave.
Alpine, Texas 79830
mark.lockwood@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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