Snapcrackle Sounds

On a late-night summer bike ride, we heard a loud call from a whippoorwill on the side of the road. We stopped and listened to the repeating calls and then heard two other whippoorwills calling back in the distance across the field, making an echoing sound. The night was filled with the light of a full moon and the volume and persistence of their song.

We discovered that the male birds call hundreds of times in a row to establish their territory and find a mate. Whippoorwills are nocturnal and have a giant mouth surrounded by hair-like feathers designed to keep insect parts out of their eyes when they dine in flight on large flying bugs. The female’s feathers are perfectly camouflaged against the forest floor, where they brood and protect their eggs without a nest. They sometimes fake a broken wing to distract and lure predators away from their eggs. The eggs are timed to hatch ten days before the full moon so that there is ample moonlight, giving the best odds of catching the flying bugs they need to feed their hatchlings.

released September 18, 2026
Music and lyrics written by Rob Roy Campbell and Vinni Hancock.
Rob Roy Campbell sang, played acoustic nylon-string guitar, and acoustic bass.
Vinni Hancock created original artwork for this song which can be seen here: https://robroycampbellandvinnihancock.bandcamp.com/track/whippoorwill-sing