Warning, Roadkill, Nightjars - Rwanda (1 Viewer)

Apologies for the nasty images, just hoping to confirm ID's if possible.

These were taken on the road near the Uwinka, lookout point at Nyungwe. This road is in the process of having lights installed and this was on a lit section so these birds may be early casualties of this?

I think the first, plare one is Montane (Ruwenzori) and the other, Black-shouldered which annoyingly, we didn't see alive.

andyadcock said:

Apologies for the nasty images, just hoping to confirm ID's if possible.

These were taken on the road near the Uwinka, lookout point at Nyungwe. This road is in the process of having lights installed and this was on a lit section so these birds may be early casualties of this?

I think the first, plare one is Montane (Ruwenzori) and the other, Black-shouldered which annoyingly, we didn't see alive.

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I am not going to claim any great ability to ID road kill, and having struggled with nightjar ID across Africa and settled on voice being my only way of being confident, these photos do pose questions.

#1 - no white in tail or wings and apparent forked tail should rule out many species, and the rufous collar a few more. The wings with distinct barring on a rufous background across primaries and secondaries suggest Pennant-winged female in my mind.

#2 - more difficult as less left. The flash on the primaries looks too strong for Black-shouldered and the tail markings two broad and long. It appears very uniform on the body and neck, although this is where it is tough to distinguish pattern from general mush. I dont have much confidence, but looks more like male Freckled to me.

Thanks for the input Muppit.

Just to add though that the first bird does have white outer tail feathers, look at the base of the tail, either side, they're just visible. Don't you also think that the gery, tones to tail and back, are wrong for Pennant-winged? P-w would also, probably be out of habitat, this road passes through superb forest.

The second bird, given that Fiery-necked and Black-shouldered are often considered conspecific, do they overlap and oddly, Avibase only list Montane for the park (as does the trip list we had for the park) though that is clearly wrong based on these two birds.

andyadcock said:

Thanks for the input Muppit.

Just to add though that the first bird does have white outer tail feathers, look at the base of the tail, either side, they're just visible. Don't you also think that the gery, tones to tail and back, are wrong for Pennant-winged? P-w would also, probably be out of habitat, this road passes through superb forest.

The second bird, given that Fiery-necked and Black-shouldered are often considered conspecific, do they overlap and oddly, Avibase only list Montane for the park (as does the trip list we had for the park) though that is clearly wrong based on these two birds.

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I had another look, and still think that Pennant winged is the best bet for #1. See this photo of a juvenile with a grey tail, found in only slightly better condition than yours.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pennant-winged_Nightjar,_immature,_Shamvura.jpg
As for habitat, it is a broad-leaved woodland breeder, but I haven't been to this location to say if this is relevant. As an intra-African migrant, presumably it will also turn up almost anywhere.

As for #2, the only info I have is that Fiery-necked, Black-shouldered, Montane and Rwenzori do not overlap. I have the same data source that only Rwenzori is recorded in the park - but I don't necessarily get too concerned as Nightjars are under-recorded everywhere in Africa (perhaps with the exception of where there are regular night-drives). I suppose the key question is why is it not a Rwenzori - certainly of the group it should be showing the most white in the tail and wing, and your specimen (sic) certainly does that. As I said the apparent plainness is odd for Rwenzori, but condition doesn't help. The other thing is the tail feathers have a grey outer edge to end of the white panel. I am only aware of this as a feature of Freckled - but happy to stand corrected.

Muppit17 said:

I had another look, and still think that Pennant winged is the best bet for #1. See this photo of a juvenile with a grey tail, found in only slightly better condition than yours.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pennant-winged_Nightjar,_immature,_Shamvura.jpg
As for habitat, it is a broad-leaved woodland breeder, but I haven't been to this location to say if this is relevant. As an intra-African migrant, presumably it will also turn up almost anywhere.

As for #2, the only info I have is that Fiery-necked, Black-shouldered, Montane and Rwenzori do not overlap. I have the same data source that only Rwenzori is recorded in the park - but I don't necessarily get too concerned as Nightjars are under-recorded everywhere in Africa (perhaps with the exception of where there are regular night-drives). I suppose the key question is why is it not a Rwenzori - certainly of the group it should be showing the most white in the tail and wing, and your specimen (sic) certainly does that. As I said the apparent plainness is odd for Rwenzori, but condition doesn't help. The other thing is the tail feathers have a grey outer edge to end of the white panel. I am only aware of this as a feature of Freckled - but happy to stand corrected.

Click to expand...

It would be a Rwenzori had that not just been re-lumped with Montane by the IOC.

I've written to our guide to see what he has to say, he's as good as there is when it comes to Rwandan birds.

http://www.naturenurturefuture.org/project-leader/4593751226

Thanks again for the input.