The Jamaican poorwill (''Siphonorhis americana''), also known as the Jamaican pauraque or Jamaican least pauraque, is a species of
nightjar in the family
Caprimulgidae. It is (or was)
endemic to
Jamaica and has not been recorded since 1860.
[Dreelin, A. (2020). Jamaican Pauraque (''Siphonorhis americana''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.jampau.01 retrieved October 13, 2021]
Taxonomy and systematics
The first
formal description of the Jamaican poorwill was by the Swedish naturalist
Carl Linnaeus in 1758 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 ...
'' under the
binomial name
In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...
''Caprimulgus americanus''. It was at one time considered
conspecific with the only other living species in its genus, the
least poorwill (''Siphonorhis brewsteri''). It is
monotypic.
[
]
Description
The Jamaican poorwill is known only from a very few specimens, the most recent of which was collected in the mid 1800s. It is long. The male's upperparts are rufous brown with blackish streaks. It has a faint rufous buff collar on the hindneck. The chin and upper throat are rufous, the lower throat clear white, the breast rufous with faint narrow brown barring, and the belly and flanks buff with brown bars and large whitish spots. The tail is mostly rufous brown with brown flecks and bars; all but the central feathers have white tips. The female is similar to the male, but somewhat less rufous overall; its underparts are more heavily spotted and the tips of the tail feathers are buffy.[ It possessed distinct 2 mm long tubular nostrils that differentiated it from its relatives on the mainland.]
Distribution and habitat
The few specimens of Jamaican poorwill from known localities were collected on the south side of the island. It was described as rare to locally uncommon during the first half of the 19th century. The habitats in Jamaica's south side included low elevation dry limestone forest, semi-open woodland, and open country.[
]
Behaviour
Feeding
The Jamaican poorwill is assumed to have been a nocturnal aerial insectivore like the least poorwill.[
]
Breeding
The Jamaican poorwill is assumed to have laid its eggs on the ground without a nest like the least poorwill.[
]
Vocalization
The Jamaican poorwill's vocalizations were not described by the collectors.[
]
Status
The IUCN
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...
has assessed the Jamaican poorwill as Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct). The International Ornithological Committee (IOC) and Clements taxonomy consider it definitely extinct.[Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2021. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2021. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/ Retrieved August 25, 2021]
References
External links
BirdLife Species Factsheet.
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1092088
Jamaican poorwill
The Jamaican poorwill (''Siphonorhis americana''), also known as the Jamaican pauraque or Jamaican least pauraque, is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is (or was) endemic to Jamaica and has not been recorded since 1860.Dree ...
Endemic birds of Jamaica
Birds of Jamaica
Critically endangered fauna of North America
Jamaican poorwil
Jamaican poorwil
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot