Scissor-tailed nightjar

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Scissor-tailed nightjar
Hydropsalis torquata in Uruguay.jpg

Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Caprimulgiformes
Family: Caprimulgidae
Genus: Hydropsalis
Species:
H. torquata
Binomial name
Hydropsalis torquata
(Gmelin, 1789)
Hydropsalis torquata map.svg
Synonyms
  • Caprimulgus torquatus
  • Hydropsalis brasiliana
  • Hydropsalis brasilianus

The scissor-tailed nightjar (Hydropsalis torquata) is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, and Uruguay.[2][3]

Taxonomy and systematics[]

The scissor-tailed nightjar was originally described as Caprimulgus torquatus and later placed in Hyropsalis. The specific epithet brasiliana or brasilianus was occasionally used in error. It has two subspecies, the nominate H. t. torquata and H. t. furcifer. The latter was originally described as a separate species.[3][4]

Description[]

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.[4]

Distribution and habitat[]

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.[4]

Behavior[]

Movement[]

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.[4]

Feeding[]

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.[4]

Breeding[]

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.[4]

Dickcissel male perched on a metal pole singing, with neck stretched and beak open.

Songs and calls
Listen to scissor-tailed nightjar on xeno-canto

Vocalization[]

The scissor-tailed nightjar's 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".[4]

Status[]

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][4]

References[]

  1. ^ a b BirdLife International (2016). "Scissor-tailed Nightjar Hydropsalis torquata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
  2. ^ Gill, F.; Donsker, D.; Rasmussen, P. (July 2021). "IOC World Bird List (v 11.2)". Retrieved July 14, 2021.
  3. ^ a b Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 24 August 2021. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved August 24, 2021
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Witynski, M. (2020). Scissor-tailed Nightjar (Hydropsalis torquata), 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.sctnig2.01 retrieved October 6, 2021
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