Nacunda Nighthawk - BirdForum Opus

Photo © by jocateme
Eldorado, Mato Grasso do Sul, Brazil

Chordeiles nacunda

Podager nacunda

Identification

Photo © by Rick and Elis
Ubatuba, Brazil, January 2012

27·5–32 cm (11-13 in)

• White throat patch
• White belly and flanks (seen in flight)
• Distinctive white bands on the wings
  

Male has white tips on its outer tail feathers

Distribution

The Nacunda Nighthawk is found in South America east of the Andes in two groups: Colombia, Venezuela, the Guianas and extreme north of Brazil; and south of the Amazon to central Argentina.

Taxonomy

This species was recently transferred from the genus Podager to Chordeiles. In consequence a new name was needed for one of the subspecies, P. n. minor has now become Chordeiles nacunda coryi.

Subspecies

Photo © by Fritz73
Uruguai PP, Misiones, Argentina

Two subspecies are recognized^[1]:

• C. n. coryi:

• Colombia to Venezuela, Trinidad, the Guianas and northern Brazil

• C. n. nacunda:

• East Peru and Brazil south of Amazon to Paraguay and central Argentina

Habitat

Habitats include forest edges, river edges, savanna and marshes, often where these are surrounded by drier, open country.

Behaviour

Photo © by Michael Hooper
Ceibas, Argentina, 20 January 2020

In flight sometimes glides on wings raised in a dihedral, and often foraging in groups. Spends the day on the ground on for example sand banks, sometimes in quite large groups.

Diet

Mainly nocturnal, sometimes crepuscular. Their main diet consists of froghoppers, beetles, bugs, locusts, winged ants and dragonflies etc.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Birdforum thread discussing the proposal to place this species in genus Chordeiles
3. Cleere, N. & Kirwan, G.M. (2020). Nacunda Nighthawk (Chordeiles nacunda). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from https://www.hbw.com/node/55169 on 16 February 2020

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Nacunda Nighthawk. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 7 December 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Nacunda_Nighthawk

External Links

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