- Hydropsalis cayennensis
Identification
20–22·5 cm (7¾-8¾)
Male: Pale grey above mottled with buffy brown and dark brown. Prominent cinnamon collar on hindneck.
White throat and supercilium; buffy breast with dark, course barring some white spots; white belly.
Broad white band across primaries like Lesser Nighthawk. Tail notched, mostly white underneath. Grey and dusky above.
Female: Quite different to male. darker above and buffier below. Also has the cinnamon nuchal collar; Wings more narrowly banded with white. Tail banded buff and dusky, no white; throat and belly light ochre; dusky barring on breast with white spots.
Distribution
Central and South America: found from Costa Rica to the Guianas; extreme northern Brazil.
Taxonomy
This species was formerly included in the genus Caprimulgus.
Subspecies
Six subspecies are recognized[1]:
- H. c. albicauda:
- Savanna of south-eastern Costa Rica to north-western Colombia
- H. c. aperta:
- Western Colombia to extreme northern Ecuador
- H. c. insularis:
- North-eastern Colombia, north-western Venezuela, Isla Margarita and adjacent islands
- H. c. manati:
- H. c. leopetes:
- H. c. cayennensis:
Habitat
Open, rather dry grassy areas, bushy savannas and barren hillsides in lowlands.
Behaviour
Strictly nocturnal.
Diet
Their diet consists of a wide variety of insects, such as moths, flies, beetles, damselflies, crickets and grasshoppers.
Breeding
The clutch consists of 2 pale reddish-buff eggs with purple or brownish markings. They are ground nesters.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Ferraro, M. M. (2020). White-tailed Nightjar (Hydropsalis cayennensis), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.whtnig1.01
- Birdforum thread discussing which genus this species belongs to
- Cornell Lab, Neotropical birds
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) White-tailed Nightjar. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 29 March 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/White-tailed_Nightjar