Associated Species: Other species that may use habitat in a similar way and/or respond similarly to threats, management, and conservation activities include Wild Turkey, Band-tailed Pigeon, Plumbeous Vireo, Orange-crowned Warbler, Virginia's Warbler, Black-headed Grosbeak, and Green-tailed Towhee.

Distribution: Common Poorwills breed from south-central British Columbia south through Baja, and in the east from southwestern Saskatchewan and western North Dakota south to north-central Mexico; they are absent from western Montana and the northern half of Idaho. They nest in suitable habitat throughout Physiographic Area 87 in Colorado. Poorwills winter in the southwestern U.S. and in Mexico.

Habitat Requirements: Common Poorwills nest in rocky sagebrush and mountain shrublands, pinyon-juniper woodlands, and ponderosa pine woodlands. Foraging sites include grassy meadows, riparian zones, and forest edges within 500 m (0.3 mi) of the nest.

Ecology: Poorwills arrive on their breeding grounds in Colorado by mid May and lay their first clutch by the end of May. They lay a second clutch in late June or July. The eggs are laid on the ground, often with at least partial shading from a rock, shrub, log, etc. Most birds have left for their wintering grounds by mid October. The diet consists of nocturnal insects, especially moths and beetles, with occasional flies, grasshoppers, and flying ants.

Management Issues and Conservation Recommendations: Efforts to set management guidelines are hampered by a profound lack of specific information on the Common Poorwill's habitat requirements. The most pressing issues are undoubtedly habitat degradation and permanent conversion of shrublands to other cover types. Set aside suitable blocks of habitat and restrict shrub clearing to promote livestock or big game forage, fire suppression (which would allow trees to form dense stands), mining, and development of housing, recreational sites, and roads.

Status and Reasons for Concern: Common Poorwills have a moderately high conservation need throughout their range and a high representation in the physiographic area. Their population trend is uncertain, and they are not adequately monitored by the BBS within Physiographic Area 87; data collected between 1966 and 1996 are too sparse for meaningful analysis of trends. Common Poorwills were present on an average of 3.26% (SE = 1.41) of the BBS routes run in Physiographic Area 87 in Colorado during 1992-1997, at an average abundance of 0.04 (SE = 0.02) individuals per route. The mean number of routes run each year was 11.4 (SE = 1.55). This species is monitored by MCB with nocturnal transects.

Biological Objective: Maintain or increase the species' distribution and abundance, as based upon results of the BBS and MCB monitoring programs.

Selected References: Andrews and Righter 1992, Csada and Brigham 1992, Kingery 1998.