Bird
Chuck-will's-widow
Caprimulgus carolinensis
A summer resident that nests in Mississippi. Found in all 82 counties, across 12 habitats.
- Here
- Summer
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 82 counties
- Habitats
- 12

At a glance
- Group
- Birds
- Here
- Summer
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 82 counties
- Habitats
- 12
- Habitat models
- Summer, Winter
Where it lives
The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.
Habitats in Mississippi 12
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Open sand of beaches, dunes and the hollows between them.
Dense, evergreen groves of live oak, magnolia and other hardwoods in the southern Coastal Plain, from dry oak domes to wet hydric hammocks and south Florida's tropical hammocks; salt-shaped maritime hammocks are maritime forests.
Disturbed and introduced wetlands
Wet ground taken over by weedy or introduced plants after disturbance, such as common reed, Chinese tallow or tamarisk stands; the upland counterpart is roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.
Forests and open woodlands on dry ridges and slopes, often oak or pine.
Borders of forests, clearings and shrubby thickets.
Flat, poorly drained uplands and terraces with oaks, sweetgum and sometimes loblolly pine, wet in winter and dry in summer, but neither a floodplain nor a swamp.
Salt-pruned forests and shrub thickets behind coastal dunes.
Forests between dry and moist, often oak-hickory on slopes.
Forests on moist but not wet ground, such as rich slopes and ravines.
Open, grass-dominated places kept open by fire, grazing or thin soil, from tallgrass prairie to Piedmont prairies.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Tree plantations and managed pine
Planted or intensively managed stands of pine or hardwoods grown for timber; a land use rather than a natural community.
Other habitats in its models (81)
Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Mississippi. Those recorded in Mississippi first, the rest by region.
Elsewhere in the South (36)
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry and Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood and Mixed Forest Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Dune and Maritime Grassland Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Xeric River Dune Summer.
- Crosstimbers Oak Forest and Woodland Winter.
- Cumberland Sandstone Glade and Barrens Summer.
- Florida Dry Prairie Summer and winter.
- Florida Peninsula Inland Scrub Summer and winter.
- Lower Mississippi River Dune Woodland and Forest Winter.
- Mississippi River Alluvial Plain Dry-Mesic Loess Slope Forest Winter.
- Nashville Basin Limestone Glade Summer.
- Ouachita Montane Oak Forest Winter.
- Ozark-Ouachita Dry Oak Woodland Summer and winter.
- Ozark-Ouachita Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Winter.
- Ozark-Ouachita Mesic Hardwood Forest Summer and winter.
- Ozark-Ouachita Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest and Woodland Summer and winter.
- Ridge and Valley Calcareous Valley Bottom Glade and Woodland Summer.
- South Florida Cypress Dome Winter.
- South Florida Dwarf Cypress Savanna Winter.
- South Florida Hardwood Hammock Summer and winter.
- South Florida Pine Flatwoods Winter.
- South Florida Pine Rockland Summer and winter.
- South-Central Interior Mesophytic Forest Summer and winter.
- Southeast Florida Coastal Strand and Maritime Hammock Winter.
- Southeastern Interior Longleaf Pine Woodland Summer.
- Southern and Central Appalachian Cove Forest Summer and winter.
- Southern and Central Appalachian Oak Forest Summer and winter.
- Southern Appalachian Low Mountain Pine Forest Summer.
- Southern Appalachian Northern Hardwood Forest Winter.
- Southern Interior Low Plateau Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Summer and winter.
- Southern Piedmont Glade and Barrens Summer and winter.
- Southern Piedmont Mesic Forest Summer and winter.
- Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest Summer.
- Southwest Florida Coastal Strand and Maritime Hammock Winter.
- Southwest Florida Dune and Coastal Grassland Summer.
Northeast (6)
- Appalachian Hemlock-Hardwood Forest Winter.
- Central Appalachian Alkaline Glade and Woodland Winter.
- Central Appalachian Oak and Pine Forest Summer and winter.
- Central Appalachian Pine-Oak Rocky Woodland Summer.
- Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry Hardwood Forest Summer.
- Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Dune and Swale Summer.
Land cover and other classes (39)
- Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Hardwood Summer and winter.
- Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Pine Modifier Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-Line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Loblolly Modifier Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Open Understory Modifier Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Summer.
- Developed, Low Intensity Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Woodland Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest - Hardwood Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Loblolly Modifier Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Open Understory Modifier Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Scrub/Shrub Modifier Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Dry Upland Hardwood Forest - Offsite Pine Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Plain Oak-Hickory Upland - Hardwood Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Plain Oak-Hickory Upland - Juniper Modifier Summer.
- Eastern Highland Rim Prairie and Barrens - Dry Modifier Summer.
- Florida Longleaf Pine Sandhill - Open Understory Modifier Summer and winter.
- Florida Longleaf Pine Sandhill - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Summer and winter.
- Harvested Forest - Grass/Forb Regeneration Summer and winter.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Forbland Summer and winter.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland Summer and winter.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland and Forbland Summer and winter.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Shrub Summer and winter.
- Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer.
- Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Virginia/Pitch Pine Modifier Summer.
- Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest-Hardwood Modifier Summer.
- Recently Burned Summer and winter.
- Recently Burned Forest Summer and winter.
- Recently Burned Grassland Summer and winter.
- Recently Burned Shrubland Summer and winter.
- Recently Logged Areas Summer and winter.
- Southern and Central Appalachian Oak Forest - Xeric Summer and winter.
- Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Hardwood Modifier Winter.
- Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Loblolly Pine Modifier Summer.
- Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer and winter.
- Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-Heath Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer and winter.
- Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest - Pine modifier Summer.
Seasons in Mississippi
- Summer: nests here, in all 82 counties.
Also found in its main habitats
Its main habitats in Mississippi, by how much of its habitat model each one is, with the birds most characteristic of each and the plants that grow wild there. Shared habitat, not food.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Birds 129
- Cape May WarblerDendroica tigrina
- Grasshopper SparrowAmmodramus savannarum
- House SparrowPasser domesticus
- Long-eared OwlAsio otus
- Monk ParakeetMyiopsitta monachus
- Smith's LongspurCalcarius pictus
- Upland SandpiperBartramia longicauda
- Rock PigeonColumba livia
- Bronzed CowbirdMolothrus aeneus
- DickcisselSpiza americana
- Red CrossbillLoxia curvirostra
- Bell's VireoVireo bellii
Plants 1094
- Muck SunflowerHelianthus simulans
- Annual FleabaneErigeron annuus
- Canada LettuceLactuca canadensis
- Common Evening-primroseOenothera biennis
- Cutleaf Evening-primroseOenothera laciniata
- Dog-fennelEupatorium capillifolium
- Threadleaf SundropsOenothera linifolia
- Carolina Crane's-billGeranium carolinianum
- Carolina HorsenettleSolanum carolinense var. carolinense
- Blackeyed SusanRudbeckia hirta var. pulcherrima
- Downy Ground-cherryPhysalis pubescens
- Gray Ground-cherryPhysalis grisea
All of roadsides, fields and disturbed ground in Mississippi
Moist forests
Birds 58
- Cerulean WarblerDendroica cerulea
- Louisiana WaterthrushSeiurus motacilla
- Red-breasted NuthatchSitta canadensis
- Kentucky WarblerOporornis formosus
- Swainson's WarblerLimnothlypis swainsonii
- Broad-winged HawkButeo platypterus
- OvenbirdSeiurus aurocapilla
- Worm-eating WarblerHelmitheros vermivorum
- Northern ParulaParula americana
- Scarlet TanagerPiranga olivacea
- Barred OwlStrix varia
- Brown ThrasherToxostoma rufum
Plants 270
- Mountain HollyIlex montana
- Rigid Whitetop AsterSymphyotrichum retroflexum
- Smooth Blue AsterSymphyotrichum laeve
- Sweet Scented Joe Pye WeedEutrochium purpureum var. purpureum
- White AshFraxinus americana
- Fewflower Tick-trefoilDesmodium pauciflorum
- Umbrella MagnoliaMagnolia tripetala
- Yellow BuckeyeAesculus flava
- Pointedleaf Tick-trefoilDesmodium glutinosum
- Smooth Carrion-flowerSmilax herbacea
- American Basswood; American LindenTilia americana var. caroliniana
- Leonard's Witch HazelHamamelis ovalis
Dry forests and woodlands
Birds 53
- Cerulean WarblerDendroica cerulea
- Swainson's WarblerLimnothlypis swainsonii
- Broad-winged HawkButeo platypterus
- OvenbirdSeiurus aurocapilla
- Worm-eating WarblerHelmitheros vermivorum
- Scarlet TanagerPiranga olivacea
- Baltimore OrioleIcterus galbula
- Barred OwlStrix varia
- Brown ThrasherToxostoma rufum
- Fox SparrowPasserella iliaca
- Acadian FlycatcherEmpidonax virescens
- American RedstartSetophaga ruticilla
Plants 190
- Chestnut OakQuercus prinus
- American ChestnutCastanea dentata
- White ThoroughwortEupatorium album
- Sessileleaf Tick-trefoilDesmodium sessilifolium
- Painted SedgeCarex picta
- Ernests SpiderwortTradescantia ernestiana
- Leavenworth's SedgeCarex leavenworthii
- Southern Whitetinge SedgeCarex albicans var. australis
- Carolina LilyLilium michauxii
- Tall BellflowerCampanulastrum americanum
- Bigleaf SnowbellStyrax grandifolius
- Perfoliate BellwortUvularia perfoliata
Sources
- USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models (2001)
- USGS GAP winter habitat model for Chuck-will's-widow
- USGS Gap Analysis Project range maps (2001), modeled by watershed; migratory gives no dates
- NatureServe Explorer (CC BY 4.0), habitat names
- US Census TIGER/Line counties
- Names follow the USGS Gap Analysis Project (2001)


























































