The Mexican whip-poor-will, (Antrostomus arizonae ), is a medium-sized nightjar of the southwestern United States, Mexico, and northern Central America.
The Mexican whip-poor-will is 23 to 24 cm (9.1 to 9.4 in) long and weighs 45 to 50 g (1.6 to 1.8 oz). In general its upperparts are grayish brown with blackish brown streaks; the crown has wide blackish brown stripes. The throat and breast are blackish with a thin white band on the lower throat between them. The belly is buff with brown bars. The male's outermost three pairs of tail feathers have broad white tips; the female's are narrower and buffy. The wings are brown with tawny and buff spots and speckles. The subspecies differ somewhat. They are lighter in the north and darker in the south and there are variations in the tone of the body color (some are redder) and the size and shape of the spots and speckles.
The subspecies of the Mexican whip-poor-will are distributed thus:
A. a. arizonae inhabits several similar mid- to mid-upper elevation, semi-arid to moist, landscapes with the common features being oaks and pines. The habitat of the more southerly resident subspecies is poorly known but there too they are birds of forest and woodland.
The behavior of the Mexican whip-poor-will has not been extensively studied but is assumed to be essentially the same as that of eastern whip-poor-will. That species is crepuscular and nocturnal, and roosts motionless during the day.
Mexican whip-poor-wills are assumed to forage like eastern whip-poor-wills by sallying from a tree perch and less frequently from the ground. The latter's prey is insects, with moths and beetles being the dominant types.
The Mexican whip-poor-will lays its clutch of two eggs directly on leaf litter with no conventional nest. In Arizona they are laid in May and early June; laying dates are not known elsewhere. Both male and female have a brood patch, which probably means that both sexes tend the eggs as do eastern whip-poor-wills.
The IUCN has assessed the Mexican whip-poor-will as being of Least Concern. It has a very large range and an estimated population of 320,000 mature individuals, though the latter is believed to be decreasing. No immediate threats have been identified.
