Long-trained Nightjar
Macropsalis forcipata
Males are spectacular with a very long black forked tail with white inner edges. Otherwise rather uniformly dark-brown above with gray and buff patches. Barred brown below with a large rufous neck patch. Females have a short, dark tail. Uncommon; found in humid forests, second growth, and forest borders.
Identification
The male long-trained nightjar has extremely long outer tail feathers from which the species gets its name. It is 28 to 31 cm (11 to 12 in) long excluding those feathers, which are 48 to 68 cm (19 to 27 in) long. Both sex's upperparts are brown with spots and bars of grayish brown, tawny, buff, and cinnamon. The wings are similarly colored, with none of the white that others in family Caprimulgidae have. They have a broad tawny or tawny buff collar on the hindneck and a faint tawny patch on the throat. The breast is brown with tawny and buff bars and scallops, the belly and flanks buff with brown bars. The males elongated tail feathers have a broad white edge; the female's tail is darker and much shorter.
Taxonomy
Some authors have contended that the binomial Macropsalis creagra bestowed by Bonaparte in 1850 is correct, but consensus now is that the specific epithet forcipata has priority. The long-trained nightjar is the only member of its genus and is monotypic.
- Scientific name
- Macropsalis forcipata
- Authority
- (Nitzsch, 1840)
- Order
- Caprimulgiformes
- Family
- Caprimulgidae
- Genus
- Macropsalis
Range and habitat
The long-trained nightjar is found in southeastern Brazil from Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo south to Rio Grande do Sul and into Argentina's far northeasternmost province, Misiones. It has been recorded as a vagrant in Paraguay. It inhabits the interior and edges of primary and secondary forest and woodland. In elevation it ranges from sea level to 1,800 m (5,900 ft), and higher in the north than the south.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The long-trained nightjar has been recorded foraging by sallies from the ground, by hawking prey in flight, and by taking prey from leaves in flight. Its diet has not been detailed but is assumed to be insects.<p>The long-trained nightjar is thought to breed between November and January in most of its range. Males make a courtship display on the ground by raising their tail in a conspicuous white "V". Eggs are laid on the ground on leaf litter without a conventional nest; the site is often shaded by a bush. The female does most of the incubation.<p>Both sexes of long-trained nightjar make "a repetitive, high-pitched 'tsip, tsip, tsip, tsip' call."
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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