Nightjars are medium-sized nocturnal or crepuscular birds in the family Caprimulgidae and order Caprimulgiformes, characterised by long wings, short legs, and very short bills. They are sometimes called goatsuckers, due to the ancient folk tale that they sucked the milk from goats, or bugeaters, their primary source of food being insects. Some New World species are called nighthawks. The English word "nightjar" originally referred to the European nightjar.
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.
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.
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.
The savanna nightjar, sometimes also allied nightjar or Franklin's nightjar, is a species of nightjar found in South and Southeast Asia. Six subspecies are recognised: C. a. monticolus, C. a. amoyensis, C. a. stictomus, C. a. affinis, C. a. timorensis and C. a. propinquus. It was once considered conspecific with the chirruping nightjar. The IUCN Red List has assessed the species to be of least concern because it has a large range and its population trend is stable.
The Satanic nightjar, also Heinrich's nightjar, satanic eared-nightjar, Sulawesi eared-nightjar or diabolical nightjar is a mid-sized, spotted, dark brown nightjar endemic to the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. The species was discovered in 1931 by Gerd Heinrich, a German natural historian who collected a single female holotype from Mount Klabat on the Minahasa peninsula of Northern Sulawesi. In the following decades, there were a few unconfirmed reports of sightings and calls of the bird, but it did not officially resurface until 1996 when David Bishop and Jared Diamond positively identified it in Lore Lindu National Park by its sound. Making the visible rediscovery available for multiple people in the tour group including poet and writer Jan Zwaaneveld. This increased the bird's estimated range by 750 km (470 mi). It has since been observed and described in the literature multiple times.
The Yucatan nightjar is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is found in Belize, Guatemala, Mexico, and Honduras.
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.
The Cuban nightjar, sometimes also Greater Antillean nightjar, is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is endemic to Cuba.
The Nubian nightjar is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is found in salt marshes of Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Israel, Kenya, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.
The little nightjar is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay.
The fiery-necked nightjar is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae, which is found mostly in Africa south of the equator, though it has been spotted in a few countries north of the equator. It is most often found in woodland savannas or other deciduous woodlands. It is usually distinguished by its tawny coloured collar which gives the species its common name. It has a distinctive call that many have rendered as 'good-lord-deliver-us'. The fiery-necked nightjar is an insectivorous species that mostly eats butterflies, moths and other insects. The fiery-necked nightjar breeds after the dry season and typically produce two clutches with two eggs per clutch.
The rufous-cheeked nightjar is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is an intra-African migrant that breeds in the south of its range. It spends the non-breeding season in eastern Nigeria, Cameroon, southern Chad and Sudan, the Republic of the Congo, the D.R.C. and western Central African Republic. Throughout the year it can be found in Southern Africa. It is a nocturnal species that feeds on flying insects, mainly hunting at dusk and the early night. They can hunt at night thanks to their large eyes that are adept at seeing in the dark. They cannot see in complete darkness and most likely cannot see colours either. The rufous-cheeked nightjar forms monogamous pairs and the egg laying period is from September to November. It looks very similar to other African nightjars and they are frequently misidentified during research and studies.
The tawny-collared nightjar is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is endemic to Mexico.
The silky-tailed nightjar is a species of nightjar birds in the family Caprimulgidae. It is found in Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.
The Roraiman nightjar is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is found in Brazil, Guyana, and Venezuela.
The white-winged nightjar is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil and Paraguay.
The great eared nightjar is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is found in southwest India and in parts of Southeast Asia. This very large nightjar has long barred wings, a barred tail and long ear-tufts which are often recumbent. It has a white throat band but has no white on its wings or on its tail.
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.
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.
