When I worked at WildCare Oklahoma, we received an average of 4-6+ Common
Poorwill every year from the greater OKC area.
I made an eBird account for the organization and entered the records that
came in during the two years that I worked there - multiplying Central
Oklahoma's number of records in doing so. I did not, however, enter
past/historical records from the patient data system, and there were a
handful where a precise enough location found did not make it to us, so
there are dozens of additional Poorwill records from central OK that are
not in the eBird or other public-facing datasets yet. If you peruse Common
Poorwill records in central Oklahoma around the OKC region, you will find
some of the WildCare records from 2022-2024.
It is my theory that due to the consistent number we received during both
the spring and fall migration seasons, that they are actually much more
regular migrants through central Oklahoma than we all realize - especially
noting that those half dozen or so per year records were only the subset of
migrants that were injured or entrapped on their journeys. There may be
many just passing through unnoticed, silent when not on breeding grounds
and extremely cryptic and difficult to spot during daylight hours.
Interestingly, I found an almost identical phenomenon when I moved to
Eugene, Oregon to work at the Cascades Raptor Center. The Willamette Valley
in Oregon is the opposite side of their usual range, as they are very
unusual to find on the west side of the Cascades. There was only a
single-digit number of records on eBird for the greater Eugene area, even
despite exponentially higher birder coverage of the region. And yet, Common
Poorwill found in the Willamette Valley are now an expected spring/fall
migration patient at our clinic - ~2 per year, which is pretty equivalent
considering we receive ~15% of the total case number that WildCare Oklahoma
does.
Just a few insights from the wildlife rehabilitation world :)
~Jesse Pline, CWR
Now in Eugene, OR
On Thu, Oct 22, 2026, 11:58 AM Zach DuFran <zdufran...> wrote:
