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Article: THE TREES COME ALIVE WITH THE SOUND OF NIGHT BIRDS.(VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON)
- Article from:
- The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA)
- Article date:
- November 2, 2003
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 The Virginian Pilot-Ledger Star. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of the Dialog Corporation by Gale Group. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: MARY REID BARROW
On summer nights when the windows are open, many have lain in bed, sleepless, to the repetitive call of the chuck-will's widow as it stakes out its territory and searches for a mate.
We always say the old familiar sound belongs to a whip-poor-will, but not so. Coastal Virginia is the chuck-will's widow's territory.
Both birds come from a group of birds known as goatsuckers or nightjars that dine on night-flying insects. They are so named because the birds were once thought to have suckled the milk from goats, and for their "night-jarring" calls, said Crystal Matthews, curator of birds at the Virginia Marine Science ...