The Common Poorwill rests on the ground or low branches by day and catches flying insects at night.
It is about 19–21 cm long, with mottled gray, brown, and white plumage, a short broad bill, and bristles around the mouth.
It uses dry grassland, open woodland, hills, and desert. At night it flies from a low perch to catch beetles and moths.
It lays two white or pinkish eggs in a slight scrape on stony or sandy ground, sometimes among needles or litter. Incubation lasts 20–21 days.
In southern Arizona, winter torpor involves lowered skin temperature and inactivity lasting several days. In a winter1998–1999 shading experiment on seven birds, active rewarming followed at least three full days of torpor.
It is compact with a large head, short rounded wings, and a short tail. A white band marks the throat. Tail tips are white in males and buff in females.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.