''Caprimulgus'' is a large and very widespread

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

nightjar Nightjars are medium-sized nocturnal or crepuscular birds in the family Caprimulgidae and order Caprimulgiformes, characterised by long wings, short legs, and very short bills. They are sometimes called goatsuckers, due to the ancient folk ta ...

s, medium-sized

nocturnal Nocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatures generally have highly developed sens ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

s with long pointed wings, short legs and short bills. ''Caprimulgus'' is derived from the Latin ''capra'', "nanny goat", and ''mulgere'', "to milk", referring to an old myth that nightjars suck milk from goats. The common name "nightjar", first recorded in 1630, refers to the nocturnal habits of the bird, the second part of the name deriving from the distinctive churring song. ''Caprimulgus'' nightjars are found around

Afro-Eurasia Afro-Eurasia (also Afroeurasia, Eurafrasia or the Old World) is a landmass comprising the continents of Africa, Asia, and Europe. The terms are compound words of the names of its constituent parts. Its mainland is the largest and most populou ...

and

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologica ...

, and like other nightjars they usually nest on the ground. They are mostly active in the late evening and early morning or at night, and feed predominantly on moths and other large flying insects. Most have small feet, of little use for walking, and their soft plumage is cryptically coloured to resemble bark or leaves. Some species, unusually for birds, perch along a branch, rather than across it, which helps to conceal them during the day. Temperate species are strongly migratory, wintering in the tropics. ''Caprimulgus'' species have relatively long bills and rictal bristles. Many have repetitive and often mechanical songs.

Taxonomy

The

''Caprimulgus'' was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

in the tenth edition of his ''

Systema Naturae ' (originally in Latin written ' with the ligature æ) is one of the major works of the Swedish botanist, zoologist and physician Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) and introduced the Linnaean taxonomy. Although the system, now known as binomial nomen ...

''. The

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

is the

European nightjar The European nightjar (''Caprimulgus europaeus''), common goatsucker, Eurasian nightjar or just nightjar, is a crepuscular and nocturnal bird in the nightjar family that breeds across most of Europe and the Palearctic to Mongolia and Northwest ...

(''Caprimulgus europaeus''). The name is the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

word for a nightjar; it combines ''capra'' meaning "nanny goat" and ''mulgere'' meaning "to milk". The myth that nightjars suck milk from goats is recounted by

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic '' ...

in his '' Natural History'': "Those called goat-suckers, which resemble a rather large blackbird, are night thieves. They enter the shepherds' stalls and fly to the goats' udders in order to suck their milk, which injures the udder and makes it perish, and the goats they have milked in this way gradually go blind."

Species

The genus contains 35 species. *

Red-necked nightjar The red-necked nightjar (''Caprimulgus ruficollis'') is the largest of the nightjars occurring in Europe. It breeds in Iberian peninsula, Iberia and North Africa, and bird migration, winters in tropical West Africa. Taxonomy ''Caprimulgus'' is de ...

, ''Caprimulgus ruficollis'' *

Jungle nightjar The jungle nightjar (''Caprimulgus indicus'') is a species of nightjar found in the Indian Subcontinent. It is found mainly on the edge of forests where it is seen or heard at dusk. The taxonomy of this and related nightjars is complex and a rang ...

, ''Caprimulgus indicus'' *

Grey nightjar The grey nightjar (''Caprimulgus jotaka'') is a species of nightjar found in East Asia. It is sometimes treated as a subspecies of the jungle nightjar (''C. indicus''), its South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is ...

, ''Caprimulgus jotaka'' (sometimes included in ''C. indicus'') * Palau nightjar, ''Caprimulgus phalaena'' *

, ''Caprimulgus europaeus'' *

Sombre nightjar The sombre nightjar (''Caprimulgus fraenatus'') is a species of nightjar Nightjars are medium-sized nocturnal or crepuscular birds in the family Caprimulgidae and order Caprimulgiformes, characterised by long wings, short legs, and very sho ...

, ''Caprimulgus fraenatus'' *

Rufous-cheeked nightjar The rufous-cheeked nightjar (''Caprimulgus rufigena'') is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is an intra-African migrant that breeds in the south of its range. It spends the non-breeding season in eastern Nigeria, Cameroon, so ...

, ''Caprimulgus rufigena'' *

Egyptian nightjar The Egyptian nightjar (''Caprimulgus aegyptius'') is a medium-small nightjar which occurs in south west Asia and north Africa and winters in tropical Africa. This is a fairly common species with a wide distribution which faces no obvious threats ...

, ''Caprimulgus aegyptius'' *

Sykes's nightjar The Sykes's nightjar, Sykes' nightjar, Sind nightjar or Sindh nightjar (''Caprimulgus mahrattensis'') is a nightjar species found in northwestern South Asia. The name commemorates Colonel William Henry Sykes Colonel William Henry Sykes, FR ...

, ''Caprimulgus mahrattensis'' *

Nubian nightjar The Nubian nightjar (''Caprimulgus nubicus'') is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is found in Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Israel, Kenya, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَم ...

, ''Caprimulgus nubicus'' *

Golden nightjar The golden nightjar (''Caprimulgus eximius'') is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is found in Sahel region in northern Sub-Saharan Africa. Description The golden nightjar is a distinctively coloured, smallish nightjar whic ...

, ''Caprimulgus eximius'' *

Jerdon's nightjar Jerdon's nightjar (''Caprimulgus atripennis'') is a medium-sized nightjar species native to southern India and Sri Lanka. Formerly considered as a subspecies of the long-tailed nightjar, it is best recognized by its distinctive call which sounds ...

''Caprimulgus atripennis'' *

Large-tailed nightjar The large-tailed nightjar (''Caprimulgus macrurus'') is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is found along the southern Himalayan foothills, eastern South Asia, Southeast Asia and northern Australia. This species is a reside ...

, ''Caprimulgus macrurus'' *

Mees's nightjar Mees's nightjar (''Caprimulgus meesi'') is a member of the nightjar family (Caprimulgidae) described as new to science in 2004. It is a representative of the large-tailed nightjar complex found on Flores and Sumba, Indonesia. Previously unrecogn ...

, ''Caprimulgus meesi'' * Andaman nightjar, ''Caprimulgus andamanicus'' *

Philippine nightjar The Philippine nightjar (''Caprimulgus manillensis'') is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is endemic to the Philippines. Its local names are ''kandarapa'' ( Tagalog) and ''tagolilong'' ( Cebuano). Its natural habitats are s ...

, ''Caprimulgus manillensis'' * Sulawesi nightjar, ''Caprimulgus celebensis'' *

Donaldson Smith's nightjar Donaldson Smith's nightjar (''Caprimulgus donaldsoni'') is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is found in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri y ...

, ''Caprimulgus donaldsoni'' *

Fiery-necked nightjar The fiery-necked nightjar (''Caprimulgus pectoralis'') is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae, which is found mostly in Africa south of the equator, though it has been spotted in a few countries north of the equator. It is most oft ...

, ''Caprimulgus pectoralis'' *

Montane nightjar The montane nightjar (''Caprimulgus poliocephalus''), mountain nightjar or Abyssinian nightjar, is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is native to upland regions of Central and Eastern Africa where it is a locally common speci ...

, ''Caprimulgus poliocephalus'' *

Indian nightjar The Indian nightjar (''Caprimulgus asiaticus'') is a small nightjar which is a resident breeder in open lands across South Asia and Southeast Asia. Like most nightjars it is crepuscular and is best detected from its characteristic calls at dawn a ...

, ''Caprimulgus asiaticus'' * Madagascar nightjar, ''Caprimulgus madagascariensis'' *

Swamp nightjar The swamp nightjar or Natal nightjar (''Caprimulgus natalensis'') is a crepuscular and nocturnal bird in the nightjar family found in Africa. Distribution and habitat It is found in Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Republic of the Cong ...

, ''Caprimulgus natalensis'' * Nechisar nightjar ''Caprimulgus solala'' *

Plain nightjar The plain nightjar (''Caprimulgus inornatus'') is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It breeds in the southern Sahel, Southern Sudan, the Horn of Africa and the southwestern Arabian Peninsula. It migrates to lower latitudes - incl ...

, ''Caprimulgus inornatus'' * Star-spotted nightjar, ''Caprimulgus stellatus'' *

Savanna nightjar The savanna nightjar, sometimes also allied nightjar or Franklin's nightjar, (''Caprimulgus affinis'') is a species of nightjar found in South and Southeast Asia. Eight subspecies are recognised: ''C. a. monticolus'', ''C. a. amoyensis'', ''C. ...

, ''Caprimulgus affinis'' * Freckled nightjar, ''Caprimulgus tristigma'' *

Bonaparte's nightjar Bonaparte's nightjar (''Caprimulgus concretus''), also known as the Sunda nightjar, is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is found in the islands of Sumatra, Belitung and Borneo. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical ...

, ''Caprimulgus concretus'' * Salvadori's nightjar, ''Caprimulgus pulchellus'' *

Prigogine's nightjar Prigogine's nightjar (''Caprimulgus prigoginei'') or the Itombwe nightjar, is a bird species of tropical central Africa. It is known from only one specimen taken at Malenge in the Itombwe Mountains in Zaire in August 1955.http://www.birdlife.org/d ...

, ''Caprimulgus prigoginei'' * Bates's nightjar, ''Caprimulgus batesi'' *

Long-tailed nightjar The long-tailed nightjar (''Caprimulgus climacurus'') is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is found in multiple African countries including Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic o ...

, ''Caprimulgus climacurus'' * Slender-tailed nightjar, ''Caprimulgus clarus'' *

Square-tailed nightjar The square-tailed nightjar (''Caprimulgus fossii'') is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae which is native to tropical and subtropical woodlands of the Afrotropics. It has an extensive range south of the African equator. Despite not ...

, ''Caprimulgus fossii'' *

Standard-winged nightjar The standard-winged nightjar (''Caprimulgus longipennis'') is a nocturnal bird in the nightjar family. Distribution and habitat It is a resident breeder in Africa from Senegal east to Ethiopia. It is found in dry savannah habitats, with some scr ...

, ''Caprimulgus longipennis'' *

Pennant-winged nightjar The pennant-winged nightjar (''Caprimulgus vexillarius'') is a species of nightjar that occurs from Nigeria to northern South Africa. It is an intra-African migrant and displays remarkable sexual dimorphism in the breeding season. Range and ha ...

, ''Caprimulgus vexillarius''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caprimulgus Bird genera Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus