Caprimulgus is a large and very widespread genus of nightjars, medium-sized nocturnal birds with long pointed wings, short legs and short bills. Caprimulgus is derived from the Latin capra, "nanny goat", and mulgere, "to milk", referring to an old myth that nightjars suck milk from goats. The common name "nightjar", first recorded in 1630, refers to the nocturnal habits of the bird, the second part of the name deriving from the distinctive churring song.
Caprimulgus nightjars are found around Afro-Eurasia and Australasia, and like other nightjars they usually nest on the ground. They are mostly active in the late evening and early morning or at night, and feed predominantly on moths and other large flying insects.
Most have small feet, of little use for walking, and their soft plumage is cryptically coloured to resemble bark or leaves. Some species, unusually for birds, perch along a branch, rather than across it, which helps to conceal them during the day. Temperate species are strongly migratory, wintering in the tropics.
Caprimulgus species have relatively long bills and rictal bristles. Many have repetitive and often mechanical songs.
Taxonomy The genus Caprimulgus was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae. The type species is the European nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus). The name is the Latin word for a nightjar; it combines capra meaning "nanny goat" and mulgere meaning "to milk". The myth that nightjars suck milk from goats is recounted by Pliny the Elder in his Natural History: "Those called goat-suckers, which resemble a rather large blackbird, are night thieves. They enter the shepherds' stalls and fly to the goats' udders in order to suck their milk, which injures the udder and makes it perish, and the goats they have milked in this way gradually go blind."
Species The genus contains 39 species.
Image Scientific name Common name Distribution Caprimulgus ruficollis Red-necked nightjar western Mediterranean Caprimulgus indicus Jungle nightjar India and Sri Lanka Caprimulgus jotaka Grey nightjar East Asia and Himalayas;winters to Southeast Asia - Caprimulgus phalaena Palau nightjar Palau Caprimulgus europaeus European nightjar western palearctic;winters to Sub-Saharan Africa Caprimulgus fraenatus Sombre nightjar East Africa Caprimulgus rufigena Rufous-cheeked nightjar southern Africa Caprimulgus aegyptius Egyptian nightjar Morocco to Sudan and southern Kazakhstan Caprimulgus mahrattensis Sykes's nightjar Pakistan, southern Afghanistan and Iran;winters to India Caprimulgus nubicus Nubian nightjar Red Sea area and Horn of Africa Caprimulgus eximius Golden nightjar Sahel Caprimulgus atripennis Jerdon's nightjar southern India and Sri Lanka Caprimulgus macrurus Large-tailed nightjar northern Pakistan though Southeast Asiato Queensland and New Guinea Caprimulgus meesi Mees's nightjar Flores and Sumba - Caprimulgus ritae Timor nightjar eastern Lesser Sundas Caprimulgus andamanicus Andaman nightjar Andaman Islands Caprimulgus manillensis Philippine nightjar Philippines - Caprimulgus celebensis Sulawesi nightjar Sulawesi and Sula Islands Caprimulgus donaldsoni Donaldson Smith's nightjar Horn of Africato northern Tanzania Caprimulgus pectoralis Fiery-necked nightjar Sub-Saharan Africa Caprimulgus poliocephalus Montane nightjar eastern Afromontane Caprimulgus asiaticus Indian nightjar South Asia to southern Indochina Caprimulgus madagascariensis Madagascar nightjar Seychelles and Madagascar Caprimulgus natalensis Swamp nightjar sparsely across Sub-Saharan Africa Caprimulgus solala Nechisar nightjar Nechisar Plains, Ethiopia Caprimulgus inornatus Plain nightjar northern Sub-Saharan Africa and southwestern Arabia;winters to more southern latitudes Caprimulgus stellatus Star-spotted nightjar Ethiopia, northern Kenyaand southern South Sudan Caprimulgus affinis Savanna nightjar Indomalaya Caprimulgus griseatus Chirruping nightjar Philippines Caprimulgus tristigma Freckled nightjar Sub-Saharan Africa - Caprimulgus concretus Bonaparte's nightjar Sumatra and Borneo - Caprimulgus pulchellus Salvadori's nightjar montane Sumatra and Java - Caprimulgus prigoginei Prigogine's nightjar Itombwe Mountains Caprimulgus batesi Bates's nightjar Congo Basin Caprimulgus climacurus Long-tailed nightjar northern Sub-Saharan Africa Caprimulgus clarus Slender-tailed nightjar East Africa Caprimulgus fossii Square-tailed nightjar miombo and adjacent areas - Caprimulgus longipennis Standard-winged nightjar forested areas of northern Sub-Saharan Africa Caprimulgus vexillarius Pennant-winged nightjar miombo;winters in equatorial latitudes
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