Family: Caprimulgidae

Caprimulgus hirundinaceus;
Pygmy Nightjar;
Bacurauzinho-da-caatinga.

Caprimulgus hirundinaceus SPIX 1825
Nyctipolus hirundinaceus cearae
CORY 1917

The regional subspecies is C. hirundinaceus cearae, ranging fom Ceará to northern Bahia. See Hellmayr 1929, p. 402, and Cleere 1999, p. 355.

Interesting literature: Ferreira e Figueiredo 1996.


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Pygmy Nightjar (Caprimulgus hirundinaceus)
06/01/2009; Serrote-do-Meio, Itapajé, Ceará, Brazil. 300 mm f2.8 lens.

Figure 1. This individual has noted my presence, and is about to take off, with the wings spread and in movement.

Identification as Caprimulgus hirundinaceus was supported by comparison of the calls with sounds on a CD by Ranft and Cleere 1998.

Based on the photo alone, identification would have remained doubtful, because there is only remote similarity with the figure in Cleere 1999, plate 30. Comparison with the figures in Mata et al. 2006, page 255/10 is also not conclusive.

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Pygmy Nightjar (Caprimulgus hirundinaceus)
06/01/2009; Serrote-do-Meio, Itapajé, Ceará, Brazil. 300 mm f2.8 lens.
mark for vim

Figure 2. On this photo, Caprimulgus hirundinaceus appears similar to Chordeiles acutipennis, see Mata et al. 2006, p. 353, fig. 5. I am not the only one who finds the two species similar. Cory 1917 wrote about the history of Caprimulgus hirundinaceus; "... For many years it was considered to be the same as Chordeiles acutipennis (Bodd.), ..., but in 1906 Hellmayr corrects the error and states that it is a well-marked species ..." (p. 3).

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