| Spot-tailed Nightjar (Hydropsalis maculicaudus (Lawrence, 1862)) |
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Scientific name: Hydropsalis maculicaudus (Lawrence, 1862) Common name: Spot-tailed Nightjar French name: Engoulevent à queue étoilée Order: Caprimulgiformes Family: Caprimulgidae Size: Body size: 20 to 22 cm; Weight: 26 to 39 g. Habitat: Savannah and meadows with sparse trees and bushes, woodland edges, marshes. Food: Insectivorous. Nesting: They do not build nests. The eggs are directly laid on the ground covered with dead leaves. There are generally two eggs per clutch. Migration: Sedentary in the main part of the range. The birds from Mexico go to South America to winter. Geographic area: Central America and South America, from south-east Mexico to south Brazil and Paraguay. |
The Spot-tailed Nightjar has a blackish brown head with a broad pale buff eyebrow and a pale buff collar. There is a thin buff line under the moustache, above black spots. The feathers of the chin, throat and chest are pale buff with brown tips. The upper parts are brown with tan markings. The underside and the flanks are buff with brown bars. The outer rectrices have a white tip. The central rectrices are a little longer. The Spot-tailed Nightjar is active at dusk and during the night. |
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I have shot this picture during a boat tour on the marshes of Caw. Night was falling and I had to use the flash. I have changed the colour of the eye that was appearing white reddish on the initial picture (I am not used to retouching my pictures). You can clearly see the white tip of the outer rectrices. |
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I haven't got any reflection problem in the eyes with this front side view. |
André Bon January 2015