| Scissor-tailed nightjar | |
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Caprimulgiformes |
| Family: | Caprimulgidae |
| Genus: | Hydropsalis |
| Species: | H. torquata |
| Binomial name | |
| Hydropsalis torquata (Gmelin, JF, 1789) | |
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| Synonyms | |
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The scissor-tailed nightjar (Hydropsalis torquata) is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is distributed over much of eastern South America.
The scissor-tailed nightjar was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae . He placed it with the other nightjars in the genus Caprimulgus and coined the binomial name Caprimulgus torquatus. [2] The scissor-tailed nightjar is now placed with three other species in the genus Hydropsalis that was introduced in 1832 by the German naturalist Johann Georg Wagler. [3] [4] The genus name combines the Ancient Greek hudro- meaning "water-" with psalis meaning "pair of scissors". The specific epithet torquata is from Latin torquatus meaning "collared". [5]
Two subspecies are recognised: [4]
The specific epithet brasiliana or brasilianus was formerly sometimes used. [6] [7] [8]
The most distinctive feature of the scissor-tailed nightjar is the male's elongated outer tail feathers, which are almost twice as long as its body. Not including those feathers, the two sexes are 25 to 30 cm (9.8 to 11.8 in) long; including them, the male is up to 66 cm (26 in) long. Males weight 47.5 to 63 g (1.7 to 2.2 oz) and females 48 to 60 g (1.7 to 2.1 oz). Males of the nominate subspecies have brown upperparts with grayish white speckles; the middle of the back also has blackish streaks and tawny spots. It has a broad tawny collar on the hindneck. The tail feathers are brown and the long outer pair have broad white tips. The chin is buffy, the throat buff or whitish with brown spots or bars, the breast buff with narrow brown bars, and the belly and flanks buff with wide brown bars. The wings are generally brown with tawny or buff streaks and spots, and do not have the white band that many other nightjars' wings have. The female's wings are tawnier, the tail has no white, and the outer tail feathers are only slightly longer than the inner ones. H. t. furcifer is larger than the nominate, generally paler, and its nuchal collar is buffier. [8]
The song is "a prolonged sequence of tsips...sometimes for minutes on end". It is given at dusk and dawn from a perch and in flight. It also has "an extremely high tsig" flight call and "a low clucking sound". [8]
The nominate subspecies of scissor-tailed nightjar is found from east central Peru across central Brazil. There is also an isolated population in Suriname. H. t. furcifer is found from southern Peru through Boliva and across southern Brazil, and south to Paraguay, northern and central Argentina, and Uruguay. They inhabit open and semi-open landscapes such as second growth and arid scrub, grasslands, acacia groves, pastures, and urban parks. It can be seen along roads, especially those bordering sugar cane fields. In elevation it generally ranges from sea level to 1,100 m (3,600 ft) but is found as high as 1,700 m (5,600 ft) in Peru and 2,700 m (8,900 ft) in Bolivia. [8]
The northern populations of scissor-tailed nightjar are generally resident. The southerly ones are thought to be migratory, spending the austral winter in southern Amazonia. [8]
The scissor-tailed nightjar is nocturnal. If forages by sallying from the ground or a perch. It has been documented feeding on insects of at least twelve orders. It apparently favors beetles (Coleoptera), of which at least 13 families have been identified in its diet. During the day it roosts on the ground in shade. [8]
Male scissor-tailed nightjars perform a wing-clapping display. The species' nesting season has not been defined but appears to include at least September to December. They lay two eggs directly on the ground or even bare rock. [8]
The IUCN has assessed the scissor-tailed nightjar as being of Least Concern. It has a very large range, and though its population size is unknown it is believed to be stable. It is fairly common to common in most of its range and appears to tolerate human activity, even living in urban parks. [1] [8]
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.
The African stonechat or common stonechat is a species of the Old World flycatcher family (Muscicapidae), inhabiting sub-Saharan Africa and adjacent regions. Like the other chats, it was long assigned to the thrush family (Turdidae), to which the chats are convergent. Its scientific name refer to its appearance and habitat and means "collared rock-dweller": Saxicola from Latin saxum ("rock") + incola, torquatus, Latin for "collared".
The pauraque – also called the common pauraque to distinguish it from similar species – is a nightjar species, one of two birds in the genus Nyctidromus. It breeds in the subtropical and tropical regions of the New World, and except for northern most birds it is largely resident all year round.
The Brazilian teal or Brazilian duck is the only duck in the genus Amazonetta. It is widely distributed in eastern South America.
The buff-collared nightjar or Ridgway's whip-poor-will is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is found in Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and the U.S. states of Arizona and New Mexico.
Anthony's nightjar, also known as the scrub nightjar, is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is found in Ecuador and Peru.
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, is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is endemic to Cuba.
The spot-tailed nightjar is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is found in Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and every mainland South American country except Chile and Uruguay.
The little nightjar is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay.
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 ladder-tailed nightjar is a species of bird in the family Caprimulgidae, the nightjars. It is one of two species in the genus, Hydropsalis.
Hydropsalis is a genus of nightjars in the family Caprimulgidae. The species are widely distributed across the tropical and subtropical regions of the New World.
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 long-trained nightjar is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is found in Argentina and Brazil.
The lyre-tailed nightjar is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.
The swallow-tailed nightjar is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.
Tschudi's nightjar or lesser band-winged nightjar is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is found in Chile and Peru.
