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[paxamicus AT earthlink.net]

Oh there are different kinds, and they have different calls.

Here's this:

"Most nightjars have striking territorial songs that vary from clear  
loud whistles or whistled phrases to sustained churring, knocking, or  
purring sounds. The name nightjar derives from the prolonged jarring  
chur of the European nightjar, and the nocturnal vocalizations provide  
the first indication of the presence of most nightjar species for  
layman and ornithologist alike. Besides the song, the vocabulary of  
several of the better-known species includes a range of calls. The  
European nightjar uses at least 10 different types of calls, among  
which are special flight, alarm, threat, mating, brood-summoning, and  
food-begging calls. Mechanical wing clapping is also a feature of  
territorial display in the European nightjar and many other species."

http://www.answers.com/topic/nightjar

The first time I heard one was here in Virginia, and I kid you, I say,  
I kid you not, I thought it was a burglar alarm.


Celia



> I need help on this whippoorwill thing. My memory of them in Wisconsin
> is that their sound trailed off at the end: whippoorwillllllll. Here
> in southern Missouri it is a hard, insistent sound, with the last of
> the three sounds up a couple notes. Quite jarring and unpleasant to my
> ear. Anyone know if there are two whippoorwills? Or shall we simply
> attribute my confusion to my imperfect memory?
>
> _______________________________________________