Caprimulgus

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Caprimulgus
Caprimulgus macrurus.jpg
Large-tailed nightjar (Caprimulgus macrurus)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Clade: Strisores
Order: Caprimulgiformes
Family: Caprimulgidae
Subfamily: Caprimulginae
Genus: Caprimulgus
Linnaeus, 1758
Type species
Caprimulgus europaeus (European nightjar)
Linnaeus, 1758
Species

39, see text.

Synonyms

Stenopsis

Caprimulgus is a large and very widespread genus of nightjars, medium-sized nocturnal birds with long pointed wings, short legs and short bills. Caprimulgus is derived from the Latin capra, "nanny goat", and mulgere, "to milk", referring to an old myth that nightjars suck milk from goats. The common name "nightjar", first recorded in 1630, refers to the nocturnal habits of the bird, the second part of the name deriving from the distinctive churring song. [1]

Contents

Caprimulgus nightjars are found around Afro-Eurasia and Australasia, and like other nightjars they usually nest on the ground. 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 their soft plumage is cryptically coloured to resemble bark or leaves. Some species, unusually for birds, perch along a branch, rather than across it, which helps to conceal them during the day. Temperate species are strongly migratory, wintering in the tropics.

Caprimulgus species have relatively long bills and rictal bristles. Many have repetitive and often mechanical songs.

Taxonomy

The genus Caprimulgus was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae . [2] The type species is the European nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus). [3] The name is the Latin word for a nightjar; it combines capra meaning "nanny goat" and mulgere meaning "to milk". [4] The myth that nightjars suck milk from goats is recounted by Pliny the Elder in his Natural History : "Those called goat-suckers, which resemble a rather large blackbird, are night thieves. They enter the shepherds' stalls and fly to the goats' udders in order to suck their milk, which injures the udder and makes it perish, and the goats they have milked in this way gradually go blind." [5]

Species

The genus contains 39 species. [6]

Related Research Articles

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The European nightjar, common goatsucker, Eurasian nightjar or just nightjar, is a crepuscular and nocturnal bird in the nightjar family that breeds across most of Europe and the Palearctic to Mongolia and Northwestern China. The Latin generic name refers to the old myth that the nocturnal nightjar suckled from goats, causing them to cease to give milk. The six subspecies differ clinally, the birds becoming smaller and paler towards the east of the range. All populations are migratory, wintering in sub-Saharan Africa. Their densely patterned grey and brown plumage makes individuals difficult to see in the daytime when they rest on the ground or perch motionless along a branch, although the male shows white patches in the wings and tail as he flies at night.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nighthawk</span> Subfamily of birds

The nighthawk is a nocturnal bird of the subfamily Chordeilinae, within the nightjar family, Caprimulgidae, native to the western hemisphere. The term "nighthawk", first recorded in the King James Bible of 1611, was originally a local name in England for the European nightjar. Its use in the Americas to refer to members of the genus Chordeiles and related genera was first recorded in 1778.

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Jerdon's nightjar is a medium-sized nightjar species native to southern India and Sri Lanka. Formerly considered as a subspecies of the long-tailed nightjar, it is best recognized by its distinctive call which sounds like a wooden plank being beaten periodically with each note ending in a quaver. The common name commemorates Thomas C. Jerdon who described the species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pauraque</span> Species of bird

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chuck-will's-widow</span> Species of bird

The chuck-will's-widow is a nocturnal bird of the nightjar family Caprimulgidae. It is mostly found in the southeastern United States near swamps, rocky uplands, and pine woods. It migrates to the West Indies, Central America, and northwestern South America.

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The great potoo or grand potoo is the largest potoo species and is widely distributed in Central and South America.

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The white-tailed nightjar is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is found in the tropic regions of Central and South America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scissor-tailed nightjar</span> Species of bird

The scissor-tailed nightjar is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is distributed over much of eastern South America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Short-tailed nighthawk</span> Species of bird

The short-tailed nighthawk is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is found in Mexico, in every Central American country except El Salvador, in Trinidad and Tobago, and in every mainland South American country except Chile and Uruguay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jamaican poorwill</span> Species of bird

The Jamaican poorwill, also known as the Jamaican pauraque or Jamaican least pauraque, is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is endemic to Jamaica and has not been recorded since 1860.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yellow-billed amazon</span> Species of bird

The yellow-billed amazon, also called the yellow-billed parrot or Jamaican amazon, is a species of parrot in the family Psittacidae. It is a predominantly green parrot with a short tail and pink throat and neck. It is endemic to Jamaica, where its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, plantations, and rural gardens. It is threatened by habitat loss and illegal trapping of wild birds for the pet trade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern potoo</span> Species of bird

The northern potoo is a nocturnal bird belonging to the potoo family, Nyctibiidae. It is found from Mexico south to Costa Rica, and on the islands of Jamaica and Hispaniola. It was formerly classified as a subspecies of the common potoo but is now usually treated as a separate species based on differences in vocalizations.

References

  1. "Nightjar" . Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press.(Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
  2. Linnaeus, Carl (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1 (10th ed.). Holmiae (Stockholm): Laurentii Salvii. p. 193.
  3. Peters, James Lee, ed. (1940). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 4. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 196.
  4. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p.  90. ISBN   978-1-4081-2501-4.
  5. Rachham, H. (1967). Pliny Natural History III Libri VIII-XI. The Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. pp. 366–367.
  6. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (August 2024). "Frogmouths, Oilbird, potoos, nightjars". IOC World Bird List Version 14.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 29 August 2024.