Lurocalis is a genus of nightjars in the family Caprimulgidae. The species are found in Central and South America.
Taxonomy The genus Lurocalis was introduced in 1851 by the American ornithologist John Cassin. The type species was designated as Caprimulgus nattereri Temminck, 1822, by George Robert Gray in 1855. This taxon is now considered as a subspecies of the short-tailed nighthawk. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek oura meaning "tail" with kolos meaning "stunted".
The genus contains two species.
Image Scientific name Common name Distribution Lurocalis rufiventris Taczanowski, 1884 Rufous-bellied nighthawk Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela Lurocalis semitorquatus (Gmelin, 1789) Short-tailed nighthawk Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela.
References