 Goatsucker Name given for a family of nocturnal birds of an order Goatsucker that includes, the frogmouth and the oil bird. They are medium-sized birds and are found it in temperate and tropical areas of both hemispheres.
The name Goatsucker is based on an ancient belief that these birds fed on goat's milk by night but their presence near such animals was no doubt due to the insects hovering about them. With their long the, pointed wings, weak feet, and small, wide gaping bills fringed with bristles , goat suckers have been called flying insect traps. Protected by brown, gray, and black coloring, and their lax and fluffy feathers render their flight almost noiseless. In England goatssuckers are called the Nightjars . The whippoorwill is common in the Eastern United States. Unlike other birds its hibernates during the winter instead of migrating. Its body temperature drops from 102 Fahrenheit 26.5 Fahrenheit, its breathing slows, and its digestion ceases until the return of spring, which brings the insects that constitutes its diet. The larger 12 in. chuck-will's widow is found in the South and the poorwill 7 in. in the West. |
