Through educational opportunities, we seek to create a connection that will inspire you to protect and conserve Tennessee’s natural resources.
I have a hunch that April is the favorite month of the year for many nature lovers. Wildflowers blooming, birds migrating, frogs calling, trees leafing out, butterflies fluttering about, nature festivals everywhere... there is certainly a lot happening.
I love all of that and more, but the thing I look forward to most in April? Goatsuckers. They are coming. Soon. You've been warned. No, this is not an April Fool's gag.
What, you ask? You say you've never heard of a goatsucker? Well, that's not surprising. It's not a word we hear much anymore. Nowadays we usually hear these unusual birds called by a different name: nightjars.
When I was a kid, my father always slept with the windows open during the warm-weather months. And with lots of woods behind our house, I heard a variety of sounds at night: frogs, owls, crickets, katydids, and more. But there was one particular sound that fascinated me. It sounded mysterious... lonesome... and sort of spooky. But fascinating. I eventually learned it was a nightjar, and I've been enamored by these birds ever since.
I feel fortunate to now live in a location where I hear nightjars every spring. Have you ever heard a nightjar call? If you've ever been near a field, prairie, cedar glade, or any type of woodland opening at dusk, perhaps you've discovered one of these mysterious birds.