Scrub Nightjar
Nyctidromus anthonyi
Brown-and-buff nightbird found in arid scrub and deserts in western Ecuador and northwestern Peru. It is dark brown, heavily mottled with buff, and has a white throat. In flight, it has white crescents near the wingtips and white stripes along the outer tail feathers. Similar to Common Pauraque, but smaller, with a shorter tail and a different voice. Compared to Tschudi's Nightjar, with which it overlaps in northwestern Peru, Scrub is much darker and has a different song. Scrub Nightjar typically gives a clear, whistled, incessantly repeated “tWEE-oh,” more emphatic and not as burry as Common Pauraque.
Identification
Male Anthony's nightjars weigh 32.3 to 39.5 g (1.1 to 1.4 oz) with a mean of about 35 g (1.2 oz) and females 31.0 to 42.0 g (1.1 to 1.5 oz) with a mean of about 37 g (1.3 oz). Males have grayish brown upperparts with buff speckles and blackish brown streaks; the crown is darker. They have a broad tawny buff collar on the nape. The tail feathers are mostly brown with considerable white on the outermost pair. The chin and upper throat are tawny buff with dark brown bars and speckles. The lower throat is white, the breast grayish brown with buff bars, and the belly and flanks buff with faint brown bars. In flight the five outermost primary wing feathers show a white or buffy stripe. The female is similar to the male but with less white on the wings and tail.
Taxonomy
Anthony's nightjar was originally described in genus Caprimulgus but DNA analysis and vocal differences show that it and its close relative the pauraque (Nyctidromus albicollis) require their own genus. For a time in the mid-1900s it was considered a subspecies of little nightjar (Setopagis parvula). Anthony's nightjar is monotypic.
- Scientific name
- Nyctidromus anthonyi
- Authority
- (Chapman, 1923)
- Order
- Caprimulgiformes
- Family
- Caprimulgidae
- Genus
- Nyctidromus
Range and habitat
Anthony's nightjar is found in coastal western Ecuador into northern Peru. It is generally sedentary but may make small movements in response to rains. It inhabits arid open woodlands, grasslands, and shrublands. In elevation it ranges from sea level to 800 m (2,600 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Anthony's nightjar is active from dusk to dawn. It roosts on the ground during the day and is usually solitary.<p>Though Anthony's nightjar is active throughout the night, it does most of its foraging at dusk and in early evening. It captures its insect prey in flight or by sallying from a branch. It tends to forage over open or semi-open areas.<p>The breeding season of Anthony's nightjar has not been defined, though it appears to be concentrated between December and March and be tied to rainfall. It lays its clutch of one to two eggs on the ground atop leaf litter.<p>Anthony's nightjar sings mostly at dusk and dawn. Its simple song is "a short treeow or keeLEEoo" sung from the ground or a low perch. It also makes a "rolling quaqrr" from a perch and "a soft tuk tuk tuk" flight call.
Conservation
- Population trend
- rising
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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