The bird's habitat is dry, open areas with grasses or shrubs, and even stony desert slopes with very little vegetation.

Many northern birds migrate to winter within the breeding range in central and western Mexico, though some remain further north.

[2] This happens on the southern edge of its range in the United States, where it spends much of the winter inactive, concealed in piles of rocks.

Audubon coined the binomial name Caprimulgus nuttallii, choosing the specific epithet to honour his friend, the ornithologist Thomas Nuttall.

[2] This happens on the southern edge of its range in the United States, where it spends much of the winter inactive, concealed in piles of rocks.

Native Americans of the Hopi tribe were likely aware of the poorwill's behavior even earlier — the Hopílavayi name of this bird, hölchko, means "The Sleeping One".

The nest of the common poorwill is a shallow scrape on the ground, often at the base of a hill and frequently shaded partly by a bush or clump of grass.

[11] There is usually one brood per year, but females may sometimes lay and incubate a second clutch within 100 m of the first nest while the male feeds young at the first site.