Sombre Nightjar vs Lesser Nighthawk

Caprimulgus fraenatus so với Chordeiles acutipennis

Side-by-Side Comparison

Thuộc Tính Sombre Nightjar Lesser Nighthawk
Tên Khoa Học Caprimulgus fraenatus Chordeiles acutipennis
Bộ Caprimulgiformes Caprimulgiformes
Họ Caprimulgidae Caprimulgidae
Tình Trạng Bảo Tồn Least Concern Least Concern
Chiều Dài
Chiều Dài Sải Cánh 32,4 cm (12.8 in) 33,0 cm (13.0 in)
Khối Lượng 60,0 g (2.12 oz) 50,0 g (1.76 oz)
Chế Độ Ăn Feeds at night on flying insects including moths and beetles; hunts with buoyant erratic flight … Hawks small flying insects at dusk and dawn over North and South American arid scrub …
Số Trứng 1-2 1-2
Population Trend

Habitat Comparison

Môi Trường Sống Chung

Không

Sombre Nightjar only

Lesser Nighthawk only

Song & Call Comparison

Sombre Nightjar

Tiếng Hót

Monotonous churring trill; repetitive 'churr' at moderate tempo from East African scrub; lower-pitched and less musical than some relatives; calls persistently at night

Lesser Nighthawk

Tiếng Hót

Loud purring trill; buzzy 'brrrrr' given in flight; lower and softer than Common Nighthawk; males display with booming wingbeats; calls at dusk over deserts

Geographic Range & Migration

Sombre Nightjar

Found across East Africa from Ethiopia and Somalia south to Tanzania. Resident in dry acacia scrub, thornbush, and arid savanna at low elevations.

Lesser Nighthawk

Breeds in open arid scrub from southwestern USA south through Central America to western South America; winters in Mexico and northern South America.

Tình Trạng Bảo Tồn

Least Concern

Sombre Nightjar

Least Concern

Lesser Nighthawk

How to Tell Them Apart

Sombre Nightjar

Bộ Lông

Uniformly dark sooty-brown upperparts with dense blackish vermiculations; pale buff supercilium and narrow white submoustachial stripe; underparts barred buff and dark brown. Sexes similar.

Lesser Nighthawk

Bộ Lông

Brown and buff mottled above; buff-white below with brown barring; white throat in male; white wing bar closer to wingtip than in Common Nighthawk; buff tail band. Female with buff …

About These Birds

Sombre Nightjar

A medium-sized nightjar (23-25 cm) with cryptic grey-brown plumage and a pale collar. Nocturnal and insectivorous, hawking moths and beetles in flight. Found in open woodland and savanna across sub-Saharan Africa from Ethiopia to South Africa. Resident or short-distance migrant.

Lesser Nighthawk

A small Caprimulgidae nighthawk (~50 g) of deserts, semi-arid scrub, and open woodland from the southwestern United States to Peru and Brazil. Brown-and-buff patterned; males have a white throat bar. Low, buoyant flight close to the ground at dusk. Hunts insects aerially. Migratory; Least Concern.

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