Where have the whippoorwills gone?

One of my Hank Williams favorite songs was about whippoorwills.

Hear that lonesome whippoorwill
He sounds too blue to fly
The midnight train is whining low
I'm so lonesome, I could cry
I've never seen a night so long
And time goes crawling by
The moon just went behind the clouds
To hide its face and cry
Did you ever see a robin weep
When leaves begin to die?
Like me, he's lost the will to live
I'm so lonesome, I could cry
The silence of a falling star
Lights up a purple sky
And as I wonder where you are
I'm so lonesome, I could cry
That's a good one
It's a lonesome song, ain't it?
Ain't that lonesome, woo
Now you can't get any much lonesome right, can you?
Want to whip a will so lonesome it can't fly
He done got lonesome, man
He needs some company, bad
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Hank Williams Sr.
I?m So Lonesome I Could Cry lyrics ? Sony/atv Acuff Rose Music

They were everywhere 70 years ago. Back in 195o they kept us awake. My dad shot one that was sitting on our back porch. In the 1970's I heard them at daylight.

I haven't heard ones call for 30+ years!

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/a...e-do-about-it/

Good observation. Can't be for a lack of mosquitoes.

My wife has some distant relatives who were related to Hank Williams by marriage. In other words no relation at all. Her father was from Georgianna AL where Hank was raised. His childhood home there has been turned into a museum.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hank_Williams

My brother's girlfriend (never married) is a Cody (Buffalo Bill) Aside from that; That was a beautiful poem based on a bird. When some birds whistle, I can imitate them. I am not a great whistler. I like to pretend that they are responding, but it's just timing. That is a great blast from the past, with some addition.

All kinds of birds are way down from when I was a kid. Even up in the mountains, grouse are way down. I remember growing up about a half hour before sunrise the birdsong would start, hundreds of birds singing all their different songs. It is almost a silent world now, compared to then, except for the noise that humans make.

jn

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Originally Posted by jon_norstog

All kinds of birds are way down from when I was a kid. Even up in the mountains, grouse are way down. I remember growing up about a half hour before sunrise the birdsong would start, hundreds of birds singing all their different songs. It is almost a silent world now, compared to then, except for the noise that humans make.

jn

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Same down here.

I use to see fields that were black from all the blackbirds. If something startled them and they all took off at once they darkened the sky, sometime for a few moments. They are mostly all gone now. Even Sparrows are scare now compared to 50 - 60 years ago.

We've had a purple Martin bird house (12 compartment) set up for about 40 years now. My Mother always had one and had Martins every year. We had Martins the first year but nothing since except maybe one pair of Blue Birds every year.

What we have a lot of now are doves. Not the mourning doves I use to hear out in the orchards. What we have now look the same but make the sound of a Coo Coo. It is their mating call and they must mate 11 and 1/2 months a year.

Ring Necked doves? Invasive species, no season or bag limit.

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Originally Posted by barretcreek

Ring Necked doves? Invasive species, no season or bag limit.

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Noise wise they are a REAL pest and like to stay close to homes. I would like to "ring their necks".

Invasive--yes and perhaps why we don't have the mourning doves any longer that didn't bother anyone.

Doves are loud. I don't think they are the smartest birds. If I lived in the remote desert, a little dove music would be appreciated. I live in a neighborhood in America and they know that this is America where yoiu can just move in and make babies. OK, a little politics. Aside from that I have a lot of doves in my trees and they know that I will set out the hose for them to get a drink from. But,if I lived in the real desert I assume that there would be less annoying noise.