Nighthawk

Also known as Chordeilinae

Nighthawks are ten New World species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. They have short bills and generally lack the elongated rictal bristles that are present in other nightjars. They also tend to be less nocturnal than other nightjars and can be observed feeding at dawn and at dusk.

Overview

The nighthawk is a nocturnal bird of the subfamily Chordeilinae, within the nightjar family, Caprimulgidae, native to the western hemisphere. The term "nighthawk", first recorded in the King James Bible of 1611, was originally a local name in England for the European nightjar. Its use in the Americas to refer to members of the genus Chordeiles and related genera was first recorded in 1778. Nighthawks are medium-sized birds with long wings, short legs, and very short bills. They usually nest on the ground. They feed on flying insects. The least nighthawk, at and , is the smallest of all Caprimulgiformes. Nightjars are sometimes referred to as goatsuckers from the mistaken belief that they suck milk from goats (the Latin for goatsucker is Caprimulgus). In October 2018, the University of Alberta published research on the common nighthawk revealing that it travels 20,000 kilometres every year during migration between the rainforests and savannas of Brazil and its breeding grounds in northern Alberta.

From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Also known as Chordeilinae