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Soundscape Comparisons of Whip-poor-will and Associates across Barrens Ecosystems
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Fall 2025
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2025-12-11
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Acoustic monitoring is a non-invasive approach to surveying wildlife species. Mist netting and point count sampling are logistically and economically challenging for many researchers, especially those focused on nocturnal species. Over the last fifty years, Eastern Whip-Poor-Wills (Antrostomus vociferus) have been declining and are listed as nearly threatened. Recent studies have found that a robust population inhabiting the Altona Flat Rock sandstone barrens during their breeding season. Sandstone pavement barrens are an open canopy jack pine (Pinus banksiana)-dominated forest with dense understory shrubs and a minimal soil layer. The goal of this survey was to better understand the diel and seasonal phenology of calling duration during Whip-Poor-Will breeding season and compare avifaunal communities at two sites. In summer 2025, we deployed 10 autonomous recording devices (ARUs) across the Altona Flat Rock and Gadway pine barrens in Clinton County, New York. ARUs were set to continuously record audio from 7pm-9am daily from late May until early July. Sound recordings were analyzed using BirdNet Analyzer algorithms to identify species with a high level of confidence. Peak whip-poor-will calling occurred during June during breeding season at both Altona and Gadway barrens and diel activity peaked at 9pm and between 3-4am. Avifauna communities both experienced Whip-Poor-Wills and Common Nighthawks calling for the longest duration. At the Altona Flat Rock, Black-and-White Warbler (Mniotilta varia), Least Flycatcher (Empidonax minimus), and Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea) vocalized for long durations, while at Gadway Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum), Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus), Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus), Nashville Warbler (Leiothlypis ruficapilla), and White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) were prolific callers. These barrens appear to be ideal habitat for breeding Whip-Poor-Wills as they contain both forested nesting and open areas for feeding. Both the Scarlet Tanager and Red-Eyed Vireo require mature forest for breeding and the Eastern Kingbird requires access to water which explains their presence along the mature forest edge in Altona. Gadway’s avifauna are less associated with mature forest canopy, instead requiring access to dense understory for nesting. Some species, such as the Nashville Warbler and White-Throated Sparrow, are associated with disturbed areas damaged by fire, ice, and wind, which creates dense understory within an open forest matrix. This study is among the first to document significant calling at the Gadway pine barrens which suggests it may be just as important breeding grounds for Whip-Poor-Wills as the Altona Flat Rock. Additionally, we offer a better timeline for targeted mark-recapture studies in the future and provide a detailed snapshot of biodiversity found inhabiting these rare sandstone pavement barrens habitats which could strengthen their protections.