Nightjars
Nightjars are medium-sized nocturnal birds with long wings, short legs and very short bills that usually nest on the ground. Nightjars are sometimes referred to as goatsuckers from the mistaken belief that they suck milk from goats (the Latin for goatsucker is Caprimulgus). Some North American species are named as nighthawks.
Nightjars are found around the world. They are mostly active in the late evening and early morning or at night, and feed predominantly on moths and other large flying insects.
Most have small feet, of little use for walking, and long pointed wings. Their soft plumage is cryptically coloured to resemble bark or leaves. Some species, unusually for birds, perch along a branch, rather than across it. This helps to conceal them during the day.
The Common Poorwill, Phalaenoptilus nuttallii is unique as a bird that undergoes a form of hibernation, becoming torpid and with a much reduced body temperature for weeks or months.
Nightjars lay one or two patterned eggs directly onto bare ground.
Traditionally, nightjars have been divided into two subfamilies: the Caprimulginae, or typical nightjars with about 70 species, and the Chordeilinae, or nighthawks of the New World with about 8 species. The two groups are similar in most respects, but the typical nightjars have rictal bristles, longer bills, and softer plumage. In their pioneering DNA-DNA hybridisation work, Sibley and Ahlquist found that the genetic difference between the eared nightjars and the typical nightjars was, in fact, greater than that between the typical nightjars and the nighthawks of the New World. Accordingly, they placed the eared nightjars in a separate family: Eurostopodidae.
Subsequent work, both morphological and genetic, has provided support for the separation of the typical and the eared nightjars, and some authorities have adopted this Sibley-Ahlquist recommendation, and also the more far-reaching one to group all the owls (traditionally Strigiformes) together in the Caprimulgiformes. The listing below retains a more orthodox arrangement, but recognises the eared nightjars as a separate group. For more detail and an alternative classification scheme, see Caprimulgiformes and Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy.
Species
- Subfamily Chordeilinae (nighthawks)
- Genus Nyctiprogne
- Band-tailed Nighthawk, Nyctiprogne leucopyga
- Plain-tailed Nighthawk, Nyctiprogne vielliardi
- Genus Podager - Nacunda Nighthawk (Podager nacunda) - It is monotypic (one single species) within the genus Podager. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are dry savanna, subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland, and heavily degraded former forest.
Genus Lurocalis:
- Rufous-bellied Nighthawk, Lurocalis rufiventris
- Short-tailed Nighthawk, Lurocalis semitorquatus
- Genus Chordeiles:
- Least Nighthawk, Chordeiles pusillus
- Sand-coloured Nighthawk, Chordeiles rupestris
- Common Nighthawk, Chordeiles minor
- Lesser Nighthawk, Chordeiles acutipennis
- Antillean Nighthawk, Chordeiles gundlachii
- Genus Nyctiprogne
- Subfamily Caprimulginae (typical nightjars)
- Genus Nyctidromus - Pauraque
- Genus Phalaenoptilus - Common Poorwill
- Genus Siphonorhis: Siphonorhis, the Caribbean pauraques, are a genus of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It contains the following species:
- Jamaican Pauraque, Siphonorhis americana - extinct (late 19th century); Jamaican Pauraque or Jamaican Poorwill (Siphonorhis americana). There are some rumors of survival. Although Ornithology.com and the University of Wisconsin Steven Points lists this species as extinct: "Last collected in 1859 on Westmoreland Island island montane forest ground-nesting insectivore endemic to Jamaica specimens in London and New York disappeared after introduction of rats (but before mongoose introduction in 1872)"
- Least Pauraque, Siphonorhis brewsteri : Aa species of nightjar in the Caprimulgidae family. It is found in the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests. As seen by the fact that it was only described in 1917, this is an enigmatic and little-known bird. It was listed as Near Threatened by the IUCN from 1988 on, but in 2000 its status was changed to Data Deficient, owing to the continuing uncertainty. With more information available, it is again listed as Near Threatend in the 2007 IUCN Red List.]
- Cuban Parauque, Siphonorhis daiquiri - extinct (prehistoric); rumors of survival
Genus Nyctiphrynus:
- Eared Poorwill, Nyctiphrynus mcleodii : Endemic to Mexico. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.
- Ocellated Poorwill, Nyctiphrynus ocellatus : Found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Paraguay, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.
- Yucatan Poorwill, Nyctiphrynus yucatanicus : It is found in the entire Yucatán Peninsula region except on the north coast, in a 50km wide coastal strip that extends 700kms; the species ranges to south-central Belize, northeasternmost Guatemala, and southern regions Mexico. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.
- Genus Caprimulgus (some 50-60 species)
- Genus Macrodipteryx (long-primaried nightjars)
- Standard-winged Nightjar, Macrodipteryx longipennis : The Standard-winged Nightjar, Macrodipteryx longipennis, is a bird in the nightjar family. It is a resident breeder in Africa from Senegal east to Ethiopia. It is found in dry savannah habitats, with some scrub. No nest is made; the two elongated and elliptical eggs are placed upon the bare ground. It flies at dusk, most often at sundown, and can sometimes be seen with Flying Foxes. It is a shadowy form with easy, silent moth-like flight; this nightjar is relatively short-tailed, and lacks white in the wings or tail. The song is a churring trill. When roosting on the ground during the day, this medium-sized (20-23cm long) nightjar is mainly variegated grey, with a browner collar. The adult male has a bizarre wing ornament during the breeding season, with a broad central flight feather on each wing elongated to 38cm, much longer than the bird's body. 20cm or more of this is bare shaft. In normal flight, these feathers trail behind, but in display flight they are raised vertically like standards. Outside the breeding season, there are no plumage distinctions between the male and female. Like other nightjars, the Standard-winged Nightjar feeds on insects in flight, the huge gape opening wide for moths and beetles.
- Pennant-winged Nightjar, Macrodipteryx vexillarius
- Genus Hydropsalis
- Scissor-tailed Nightjar, Hydropsalis brasiliana : Found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, and Uruguay. Its natural habitats are dry savanna, subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland, and heavily degraded former forest.
- Ladder-tailed Nightjar, Hydropsalis climacocerca : Found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist shrubland, rivers, and freshwater lakes.
- Genus Uropsalis
- Lyre-tailed Nightjar, Uropsalis lyra : Found in Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.
- Swallow-tailed Nightjar, Uropsalis segmentata : Found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland.
- Genus Macropsalis
- Long-trained Nightjar, Macropsalis creagra : Found in Argentina and Brazil. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.
- Genus Eleothreptus
- Sickle-winged Nightjar, Eleothreptus anomalus : Found in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, dry savanna, moist savanna, and swamps. It is threatened by habitat loss.
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