Chuck-will's-widow vs Veatch's dodder

Antrostomus carolinensis compared with Cuscuta veatchii

Key Differences

Chuck-will's-widow is Least Concern while Veatch's dodder is Extinct.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Chuck-will's-widow	Veatch's dodder
Kingdom	Animalia (สัตว์)	Plantae (พืช)
Phylum	Chordata (สัตว์มีแกนสันหลัง)	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)
Class	Aves (นก)	Magnoliopsida (พืชใบเลี้ยงคู่)
Order	Caprimulgiformes (Caprimulgiformes)	Solanales (อันดับมะเขือ)
Family	Caprimulgidae	Convolvulaceae
Genus	Antrostomus	Cuscuta
Species	Antrostomus carolinensis	Cuscuta veatchii

Conservation Status

Chuck-will's-widow

LC — Least Concern

Veatch's dodder

EX — Extinct

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Chuck-will's-widow	Veatch's dodder
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Chuck-will's-widow

Habitat

Typically found in various aerial, terrestrial, and aquatic environments.

Range

Distributed across Colombia, Norway, and Venezuela.

Veatch's dodder

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

Chuck-will's-widow

The Chuck-will's-widow (Antrostomus carolinensis) is the largest nightjar in North America, named for its distinctive far-carrying call — a resonant four-syllable whistle repeated persistently on warm nights. It breeds across the southeastern United States, from the Atlantic coastal plain through the Gulf states and up the Mississippi Valley to southern Indiana and Kansas. The species migrates southward in autumn to winter quarters in the Caribbean, Central America, and northern South America. Like all nightjars, it is a crepuscular and nocturnal insectivore, capturing large moths, beetles, and other flying insects in flight using its enormous, bristle-fringed gape. By day, the Chuck-will's-widow roosts on the ground or along horizontal branches, relying on cryptic mottled plumage for concealment. It nests directly on the leaf litter of open woodland and scrub, typically in pine-oak forests, dry forests, and woodland edges. The IUCN classifies this species as Least Concern, though Breeding Bird Survey data suggest moderate long-term population declines linked to forest fragmentation and light pollution that disrupts insect prey availability. Conservation of large-scale woodland tracts in the southeastern United States benefits this species and its associated nightjar community.