If you are wondering why this important to the bird, the answer is actually very simple. It seems whip-poor-wills begin feeding about a half an hour after the sun sets. They will continue hunting until it becomes next to impossible for them to see. They resume foraging for food some 40 minutes before dawn.

Where do Whip-poor-wills go during the day?

Often heard but seldom observed, the Whip-poor-will chants its name on summer nights in eastern woods. The song may seem to go on endlessly; a patient observer once counted 1,088 whip-poor-wills given rapidly without a break. By day, the bird sleeps on the forest floor, or on a horizontal log or branch.

What time of day do Whip-poor-wills sing?

“The Whip-poor-wills now begin to sing in earnest about half an hour before sunrise, as if making haste to improve the short time that is left them. … They sing for several hours in the early part of the night, then sing again just before sunrise.”