Animalia > Chordata > Aves > Caprimulgiformes > Caprimulgidae > Chordeiles > Chordeiles minor

Chordeiles minor (Common Nighthawk)

Synonyms: Caprimulgus minor (homotypic)
Language: French; Spanish

Wikipedia Abstract

The common nighthawk (Chordeiles minor) is a medium-sized crepuscular or nocturnal bird within the nightjar family, whose presence and identity are best revealed by its vocalization. Typically dark (grey, black and brown), displaying cryptic colouration and intricate patterns, this bird is difficult to spot with the naked eye during the day. Once aerial, with its buoyant but erratic flight, this bird is most conspicuous. The most remarkable feature of this aerial insectivore is its small beak that belies the massiveness of its mouth. Some claim appearance similarities to owls. With its horizontal stance and short legs, the common nighthawk does not travel frequently on the ground, instead preferring to perch horizontally, parallel to branches, on posts, on the ground or on a roof. The mal
View Wikipedia Record: Chordeiles minor

Infraspecies

Chordeiles minor aserriensis
Chordeiles minor chapmani
Chordeiles minor henryi
Chordeiles minor hesperis
Chordeiles minor howelli
Chordeiles minor minor
Chordeiles minor neotropicalis
Chordeiles minor panamensis
Chordeiles minor sennetti

EDGE Analysis

Uniqueness Scale: Similiar (0) 
8
 Unique (100)
Uniqueness & Vulnerability Scale: Similiar & Secure (0) 
32
 Unique & Vulnerable (100)
ED Score: 16.4037
EDGE Score: 2.85668
Learn more at EDGE of Existence programme

Attributes

Adult Weight [1]  62 grams
Birth Weight [3]  6 grams
Breeding Habitat [2]  Generalist, Agricultural
Wintering Geography [2]  S. American Lowlands
Wintering Habitat [2]  Generalist, Agricultural
Diet [4]  Carnivore (Invertebrates)
Diet - Invertibrates [4]  100 %
Forages - Aerial [4]  90 %
Forages - Understory [4]  10 %
Clutch Size [5]  2
Clutches / Year [3]  1
Fledging [1]  21 days
Global Population (2017 est.) [2]  17,000,000
Incubation [3]  19 days
Mating Display [6]  Ground and non-acrobatic aerial display
Mating System [6]  Monogamy
Maximum Longevity [3]  9 years
Migration [7]  Intercontinental
Nocturnal [4]  Yes
Wing Span [8]  22 inches (.564 m)

Ecoregions

Protected Areas

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Biodiversity Hotspots

Predators

Range Map

External References

NatureServe Explorer

Audio

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Provided by Birds Of A Feather on Myxer

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
♦ 1Nathan P. Myhrvold, Elita Baldridge, Benjamin Chan, Dhileep Sivam, Daniel L. Freeman, and S. K. Morgan Ernest. 2015. An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96:3109
♦ 2Partners in Flight Avian Conservation Assessment Database, version 2017. Accessed on January 2018.
♦ 3de Magalhaes, J. P., and Costa, J. (2009) A database of vertebrate longevity records and their relation to other life-history traits. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 22(8):1770-1774
♦ 4Hamish Wilman, Jonathan Belmaker, Jennifer Simpson, Carolina de la Rosa, Marcelo M. Rivadeneira, and Walter Jetz. 2014. EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95:2027
♦ 5Jetz W, Sekercioglu CH, Böhning-Gaese K (2008) The Worldwide Variation in Avian Clutch Size across Species and Space PLoS Biol 6(12): e303. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0060303
♦ 6Terje Lislevand, Jordi Figuerola, and Tamás Székely. 2007. Avian body sizes in relation to fecundity, mating system, display behavior, and resource sharing. Ecology 88:1605
♦ 7Myers, P., R. Espinosa, C. S. Parr, T. Jones, G. S. Hammond, and T. A. Dewey. 2006. The Animal Diversity Web (online). Accessed February 01, 2010 at animaldiversity.org
♦ 8The turning- and linear-maneuvering performance of birds: the cost of efficiency for coursing insectivores, Douglas R. Warrick, Can. J. Zool. 76: 1063–1079 (1998)
♦ 9Jorrit H. Poelen, James D. Simons and Chris J. Mungall. (2014). Global Biotic Interactions: An open infrastructure to share and analyze species-interaction datasets. Ecological Informatics.
Ecoregions provided by World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF). WildFinder: Online database of species distributions, ver. 01.06 Wildfinder Database
Biodiversity Hotspots provided by Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund
Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
Audio software provided by SoundManager 2
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0