Solomons Nightjar
Eurostopodus nigripennis
A large-eyed and immaculately camouflaged nocturnal bird. Plumage is a mixture of brown, rufous, and gray speckling and barring, with a small white throat patch and a faint rufous collar. Found mostly in and around forest. Recorded roosting on sandy beaches and mangrove roots. Superficially similar to Solomons Frogmouth but unlikely to be confused. Song reported to sound similar to an axe hitting wood, a staccato “tok-tok-tok.”
Identification
The Solomons nightjar (Eurostopodus nigripennis) is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is found in the Solomon Islands archipelago. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests. It avoids human activity, and (like other nightjars) is nocturnal. It was recently split from the white-throated nightjar based on differences in vocalizations, morphology, and range. Juvenile plumage is duller than that of adults. It feeds on flying insects.
Taxonomy
Genus: Eurostopodus; Family: Caprimulgidae; Order: Caprimulgiformes.
- Scientific name
- Eurostopodus nigripennis
- Authority
- Ramsay, EP, 1882
- Order
- Caprimulgiformes
- Family
- Caprimulgidae
- Genus
- Eurostopodus
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Other Birds

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Bay-breasted Cuckoo
Coccyzus rufigularis
A large cuckoo with an impressive tail and a rich maroon throat and breast. Found in low-to-moderate elevation deciduous woodlands. The similarly shaped Hispaniolan Lizard-Cuckoo is smaller, has a longer and straighter bill, and is gray on the chest. The most common vocalization is a “ooo-whaaa,” given in a series. The impressive “dawn song” is a series of harsh, ratcheting utterances that accelerate in frequency and grow ever briefer in duration: the first few notes are “ooo-whaaaa,” becoming “whaa” as the song progresses.

Lemon-rumped Warbler
Phylloscopus chloronotus
Small leaf warbler with many extremely similar relatives. Like other “Pallas’s-type” leaf warblers, has olive-yellow upperparts, pale underparts, prominent brow and crown stripes, double wingbars, and a pale rump. Unlike Ashy-throated and Buff-barred Warblers, lacks any white on outer tail edges. Pallas’s averages yellower-headed and brighter overall. Gansu and Chinese Leaf Warblers can be incredibly similar, but Lemon-rumped averages whiter-browed and yellower-bellied than the former, more contrastingly-marked on the head than the latter, and darker-billed than both. As with many other physically similar leaf warblers, best distinguished by voice and habitat. Breeds in coniferous and mixed forests at mid- to high-elevation forests, though may descend into foothills in the winter. Two song types are both highly distinctive; one is a buzzy, descending rattling trill and the other is a series of high-pitched clicking twitters. Call is a loud, strident pair of notes: “pse-tew!”
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