Birds Guide

Nightjars
Common Nighthawk, Chordeiles minor, and Whip-poor-will, Caprimulgus vociferus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia   Phylum: Chordata   Class: Aves   Order: Caprimulgiformes   Family: Caprimulgidae Vigors, 1825
Genera
Nyctiprogne Podager Lurocalis Chordeiles Nyctidromus Phalaenoptilus Siphonorhis Nyctiphrynus Caprimulgus Macrodipteryx Hydropsalis Uropsalis Macropsalis Eleothreptus Eurostopodus

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 (New World nighthawks)
  • Band-tailed Nighthawk, Nyctiprogne leucopyga
    Nacunda Nighthawk, Podager nacunda
    Rufous-bellied Nighthawk, Lurocalis rufiventris
    Short-tailed Nighthawk, Lurocalis semitorquatus
    Antillean Nighthawk, Chordeiles gundlachii
    Lesser Nighthawk, Chordeiles acutipennis
    Common Nighthawk, Chordeiles minor
    Least Nighthawk, Chordeiles pusillus
    Sand-colored Nighthawk, Chordeiles rupestris
• Subfamily Caprimulginae (typical nightjars)
  • Egyptian Nightjar, Caprimulgus aegyptius
    Savanna Nightjar, Caprimulgus affinis
    Scrub Nightjar, Caprimulgus anthonyi
    Indian Nightjar, Caprimulgus asiaticus
    Jerdon's Nightjar Caprimulgus atripennis
    Yucatan Nightjar, Caprimulgus badius
    Bates's Nightjar, Caprimulgus batesi
    Brown Nightjar, Caprimulgus binotatus
    White-winged Nightjar, Caprimulgus candicans
    Chuck-will's-widow Caprimulgus carolinensis
    White-tailed Nightjar, Caprimulgus cayennensis
    Sulawesi Nightjar, Caprimulgus celebensis
    Vaurie's Nightjar, Caprimulgus centralasicus
    Slender-tailed Nightjar, Caprimulgus clarus
    Long-tailed Nightjar, Caprimulgus climacurus
    Bonaparte's Nightjar, Caprimulgus concretus
    Greater Antillean Nightjar, Caprimulgus cubanensis
    Donaldson-Smith's Nightjar, Caprimulgus donaldsoni
    Collared Nightjar, Caprimulgus enarratus
    European Nightjar, Caprimulgus europaeus
    Golden Nightjar, Caprimulgus eximius
    Square-tailed Nightjar, Caprimulgus fossii
    Sombre Nightjar, Caprimulgus fraenatus
    Pygmy Nightjar, Caprimulgus hirundinaceus
    Grey Nightjar, Caprimulgus indicus
    Plain Nightjar, Caprimulgus inornatus
    Band-winged Nightjar, Caprimulgus longirostris
    Large-tailed Nightjar, Caprimulgus macrurus
    Spot-tailed Nightjar, Caprimulgus maculicaudus
    Cayenne Nightjar, Caprimulgus maculosus
    Madagascar Nightjar, Caprimulgus madagascariensis
    Sykes's Nightjar, Caprimulgus mahrattensis
    Philippine Nightjar, Caprimulgus manillensis
    Swamp Nightjar, Caprimulgus natalensis
    Blackish Nightjar, Caprimulgus nigrescens
    Black-shouldered Nightjar, Caprimulgus nigriscapularis
    Puerto Rican Nightjar, Caprimulgus noctitherus
    Nubian Nightjar, Caprimulgus nubicus
    Little Nightjar, Caprimulgus parvulus
    Fiery-necked Nightjar, Caprimulgus pectoralis
    Montane Nightjar, Caprimulgus poliocephalus
    Itombwe Nightjar, Caprimulgus prigoginei
    Salvadori's Nightjar, Caprimulgus pulchellus
    Buff-collared Nightjar, Caprimulgus ridgwayi
    Red-necked Nightjar, Caprimulgus ruficollis
    Rufous-cheeked Nightjar, Caprimulgus rufigena
    Rufous Nightjar, Caprimulgus rufus
    Ruwenzori Nightjar, Caprimulgus ruwenzorii
    Tawny-collared Nightjar, Caprimulgus salvini
    Dusky Nightjar, Caprimulgus saturatus
    Silky-tailed Nightjar, Caprimulgus sericocaudatus
    Star-spotted Nightjar, Caprimulgus stellatus
    Freckled Nightjar, Caprimulgus tristigma
    Whip-poor-will, Caprimulgus vociferus
    Roraiman Nightjar, Caprimulgus whitelyi
    Scissor-tailed Nightjar, Hydropsalis brasiliana
    Ladder-tailed Nightjar, Hydropsalis climacocerca
    Standard-winged Nightjar, Macrodipteryx longipennis
    Pennant-winged Nightjar, Macrodipteryx vexillarius
    Long-trained Nightjar, Macropsalis creagra
    Pauraque, Nyctidromus albicollis
    Eared Poorwill, Nyctiphrynus mcleodii
    Ocellated Poorwill, Nyctiphrynus ocellatus
    Yucatan Poorwill, Nyctiphrynus yucatanicus
    Common Poorwill, Phalaenoptilus nuttallii
    Jamaican Pauraque, Siphonorhis americana (extinct; rumors of survival)
    Least Pauraque, Siphonorhis brewsteri
    Cuban Parauque, Siphonorhis daiquiri (extinct; rumors of survival)
    Lyre-tailed Nightjar, Uropsalis lyra
    Swallow-tailed Nightjar, Uropsalis segmentata
    Sickle-winged Nightjar, Eleothreptus anomalus
• Subfamily Eurostopodidae (eared nightjars)
  • Mountain Eared Nightjar, Eurostopodus archboldi
    Spotted Eared Nightjar, Eurostopodus argus
    Satanic Eared Nightjar, Eurostopodus diabolicus
    Great Eared Nightjar, Eurostopodus macrotis
    White-throated Eared Nightjar, Eurostopodus mystacalis
    Papuan Eared Nightjar, Eurostopodus papuensis
    Malaysian Eared Nightjar, Eurostopodus temminckii

External links

• Nightjar videos on the Internet Bird Collection