The plain-tailed nighthawk (''Nyctiprogne vielliardi'') 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 short bills. They are sometimes called goatsuckers, due to the ancient folk ta ...

(probably least known of the nightjars) in the family Caprimulgidae. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

is dry

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

. The Plain-tailed was given its name due to the lack of bands on its tail. Other names it was given include "Bahia Nighthawk" and "Caatinga Nighthawk" although not completely inappropriate due to the fact that they are not only found specifically in those areas.

Description

Physical

Once a plain-tailed nighthawk is fully grown, their plumage is dark with brown, the long upper-wings are black, it has gray and white in its upper parts and breast but the characteristic that distinguishes it from the band-tailed nighthawk is that its tail is black without

Distribution and habitat

The Plain-tailed Nighthawks are only found in

in only two currently known localities. One runs along the rio São Francisco and immediately adjacent tributaries in

Bahia Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (sta ...

and in the state of

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literally ...

which are in central Brazil. The Plain-tailed nighthawk can be classified as near threatened due to loss of riverine forest and scum which lie within its small range..

Behavior

There is not much information about the Plain-tailed nighthawk because it is a newly identified species but it is known that they are

crepuscular In zoology, a crepuscular animal is one that is active primarily during the twilight period, being matutinal, vespertine, or both. This is distinguished from diurnal and nocturnal behavior, where an animal is active during the hours of daylig ...

(active at dawn and dusk) and

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 ...

(active at night) and they sleep on the ground where they can easily camouflage. They have been observed above the river in flocks of up to 20 individuals during dusk hours.

Diet

A plain-tailed nighthawks diet consists mainly of insects which it finds in swarms. It also can catch a drink a water by swooping down slowly on a surface of water

Nesting and Breeding

To attract females, the male Plain-tailed nighthawk sings. He also sings after he has marked his territory in order to protect it from intruders. The Plain-tailed nighthawk does not construct nests but instead it lays its eggs in an unlined depression on the ground. They may lay about one to two eggs, but primarily two, that are a white/creamy color with dark colored spots in order to better camouflage with the ground. The female incubates the eggs during the day while both parents incubate it at night for approximately 19 to 21 days. The male is primarily in charge of protecting the nest from any predators or other intruders. the parents feed the chicks mainly insects until they are able to leave the nest in about 20 to 21 days.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q528334 Nyctiprogne, plain-tailed nighthawk Birds of the Cerrado Endemic birds of Brazil plain-tailed nighthawk Taxonomy articles created by Polbot