In Orange County’s scrub country, the nights are ruled by quiet, creeping forms that specialize in navigating a low-light environment. One of them is the common poorwill. Like other nocturnal species, ...

Have you heard of caprimulgids — sometimes known as goatsuckers, nighthawks or nightjars (that jar the night with sound)? Many ranchers know at least one of them well, even if they don't have a name ...

Michael Palin presents the common poorwill from an Arizona desert. In the dead of night, loud calls pierce the stillness on a moonlit track, a small shape suddenly sprouts wings and flutters into the ...

Common Poorwill Bird Walk: 7 p.m. June 26, July 3 and 31, Mount Diablo. Meet at Mitchell Canyon Trailhead, 96 Mitchell Canyon Road, Walnut Creek. Denise Wight leads this four-mile, two hour hike. $6 ...

Called holchko, or “sleeping one,” by the Hopi, poorwills have the startling ability to cut their oxygen use by 97% and survive through the winter on just 10 grams of stored fat. Though known to the ...