The tawny-collared nightjar (''Antrostomus salvini'') 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 ...

in the family Caprimulgidae. It is endemic to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The tawny-collared nightjar was originally described as ''Caprimulgus salvini''; ''Antrostomus'' was later split as a separate genus. It and the

Yucatan nightjar The Yucatan nightjar (''Antrostomus badius'') is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is found in Belize, Guatemala, Mexico, and Honduras.Schulenberg, T. S., M. d. C. Arizmendi, C. I. Rodríguez-Flores, C. A. Soberanes-Gonzál ...

(''A. badius'') were for a time considered subspecies of the

silky-tailed nightjar The silky-tailed nightjar (''Antrostomus sericocaudatus'') is a species of nightjar birds in the family Caprimulgidae. It is found in Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland for ...

(''A. sericocaudatus''). The tawny-collared nightjar is

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

.Schulenberg, T. S., M. d. C. Arizmendi, C. I. Rodríguez-Flores, C. A. Soberanes-González, A. Johnson, and J. Sousa (2020). Tawny-collared Nightjar (''Antrostomus salvini''), 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.tacnig1.01 retrieved October 15, 2021

Description

The tawny-collared nightjar is long. One female weighed . The male's upperparts are blackish brown; the crown has blackish spots and the back and rump have fine light brown speckles and broad blackish streaks. It has a broad tawny or buff collar on the nape and the sides of the neck that give the species its name. The tail is also dark brown and the three outermost pairs of feathers have wide white tips. The wings are brown to blackish brown with tawny spots and bars. The face is dark reddish with brown barring. The chin and throat are blackish brown with a narrow white band below the latter, the breast blackish brown with cinnamon speckles, and the belly and flanks blackish brown with many white spots. The female is similar but the tips of the tail feathers have a narrow buff band instead of the wide white one, the tawny markings on the wing are paler, and the band on the lower throat is buffy rather than white.

Distribution and habitat

The tawn-collared nightjar is found in northeastern Mexico, from

Nuevo León Nuevo León () is a state in the northeast region of Mexico. The state was named after the New Kingdom of León, an administrative territory from the Viceroyalty of New Spain, itself was named after the historic Spanish Kingdom of León. With a ...

and

Tamaulipas Tamaulipas (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tamaulipas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Tamaulipas), is a state in the northeast region of Mexico; one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal Entiti ...

south to

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

. It is mostly resident but a few apparently move further south in the nonbreeding season. It inhabits arid to semihumid landscapes including brushy woodland,

thorn forest A thorn forest is a dense scrubland with vegetation characteristic of dry subtropical and warm temperate areas with a seasonal rainfall averaging . Regions Africa Is present in the southwest of Africa Africa is the world's second-largest ...

, and dense scrublands. It shuns humid and heavily forested areas. In elevation it ranges from sea level to .

Behavior

Feeding

The tawny-collared nightjar is

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 ...

. It hunts for flying insects by sallying from a perch and possibly also from the ground.

Breeding

The tawny-collared nightjar's breeding season spans from April to August. The clutch size is two eggs, probably laid directly on the ground with no nest as is common among nightjars.

Vocalization

The tawny-collared nightjar's song is "an abrupt, clipped ''chi-wihw'' or ''tchi-wheeu'', repeated rapidly". It is sung from a hidden perch in a bush or tree, mostly at dawn and dusk, and mostly from March through July.

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 tawny-collared nightjar as being of Least Concern. Its population is estimated to be at least 50,000 mature individuals but is decreasing. No immediate threats have been identified.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1269338

tawny-collared nightjar The tawny-collared nightjar (''Antrostomus salvini'') is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is endemic to Mexico. Taxonomy and systematics The tawny-collared nightjar was originally described as ''Caprimulgus salvini''; ' ...

Birds of Mexico

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot