🐦

Jamaican Poorwill

Siphonorhis americana

Not Evaluated

Wingspan

27.0 cm

Weight

55.4 g

Family

Caprimulgidae

Order

Caprimulgiformes

About

A medium Caprimulgidae poorwill (~55 g) endemic to Jamaica; possibly extinct or extremely rare. Last confirmed record in 1860; reported subsequently but never verified. Inhabited dry limestone scrub forest. Cryptic mottled plumage. Presumed nocturnal insectivore. Not currently evaluated by IUCN.

Physical Description

Measurement	Value	Imperial
Wingspan	27.0 cm	10.6 in
Weight	55.4 g	1.95 oz

Identification

Plumage

Brown and rufous mottled above with dark vermiculations; pale buff below with dark barring; white throat patch in male; buff and dark barred tail; no white wing patches. Closely resembles Least Poorwill; Jamaica endemic.

Habitat & Range

🌲 Forest

Geographic Range

Endemic to Jamaica; possibly extinct; known from historical specimens; no confirmed records since the 19th century.

Diet & Feeding

Caught flying insects at night in Jamaican dry forest; presumed extinct since 19th century.

Behavior & Breeding

Nesting

Nest type: NO.

Sound

Song

Possibly extinct; historically described as soft 'wheep-wheep'; whistled, purring call from dry limestone forest; no modern recordings exist

Taxonomy

Kingdom	Animalia
Phylum	Chordata
Class	Aves
Order	Caprimulgiformes (Nightjars & Swifts)
Family	Caprimulgidae (Nightjars)
Genus	Siphonorhis
Species	Siphonorhis americana

Distribution

Jamaican Poorwill has been recorded in 1 countries.

{# Distribution Map — simplified SVG world map with highlighted countries. Expects `country_codes` variable: list of ISO alpha-2 codes (e.g. ["US", "CA", "MX"]). Uses Alpine.js to toggle classes on country paths. #}

Present Not recorded