Jerdon's nightjar
Jerdon's nightjar | |
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C. a. atripennis
Mangaon, Raigad, Maharashtra | |
Calls | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Clade: | Strisores |
Order: | Caprimulgiformes |
Family: | Caprimulgidae |
Genus: | Caprimulgus |
Species: | C. atripennis
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Binomial name | |
Caprimulgus atripennis Jerdon, 1845
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Jerdon's nightjar (Caprimulgus atripennis) is a medium-sized nightjar species native to southern India and Sri Lanka. Formerly considered as a subspecies of the long-tailed nightjar, it is best recognized by its distinctive call which sounds like a wooden plank being beaten periodically with each note ending in a quaver.[2] The common name commemorates Thomas C. Jerdon who described the species.[3]
Taxonomy
Description
Like other nightjars, it has a wide gape, long wings, soft downy plumage and nocturnal habits. At 26 cm in overall length, it is almost a head's length larger than the
Its typical call is a fast repetitive ch-woo-woo.[2] Another call is said to be a frog-like croak.[11]
Behaviour and ecology
Open woodland, scrub, and cultivation is the habitat of this
Nocturnal insects, such as moths, are its food. Unlike the Indian nightjar (C. asiaticus), this species rarely rests on roads during the night, preferring to alight on bushes. This makes it harder to spot, since it is not so readily seen in vehicle headlights.[2] It however roosts on the ground although calling from the trees.[11]
The breeding season is March to July in India and February to May in Sri Lanka. No nest is made; the two marbled eggs are placed upon the bare ground. The brooding bird, covering them closely with its camouflage plumage, is their best protection.[2] The chicks can crawl away from the nest soon after hatching and hide among leaves when alarmed.[8]
Conservation
Jerdon's nightjar has been listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List since 2004, as it has a large range, and the population trend is considered stable.[1]
References
- ^ a b BirdLife International (2016). "Caprimulgus atripennis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22689931A93253085. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
- ^ ISBN 0-691-04910-6.
- ^ Beolens, B.; Watkins, M.l. (2003). Whose Bird? Men and Women Commemorated in the Common Names of Birds. London: Christopher Helm. pp. 180–181.
- ^ Jerdon, T.C. (1847). Illustrations of Indian ornithology, containing fifty figures of new, unfigured and interesting species of birds, chiefly from the south of India. Madras: American Mission Press. p. 138.
- ^ Ripley, Sidney Dillon; Beehler, Bruce M. (1987). "New evidence for sympatry in the sibling species Caprimulgus atripennis Jerdon and Caprimulgus macrurus Horsfield". Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club. 107: 47–49.
- ^ Sangster, G.; Rozendaal, F. G. (2004). "Systematic notes on Asian birds. 41. Territorial songs and species-level taxonomy of nightjars of the Caprimulgus macrurus complex, with the description of a new species" (PDF). Zoologische Verhandelingen. 350: 7–45.
- ^ Cleere, N. (2002). "The original citation of Jerdon's Nightjar Caprimulgus atripennis (Caprimulgidae)" (PDF). Forktail. 18: 147. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-10-11.
- ^ a b Ali, S.; Ripley, S.D. (1983). Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan (Second ed.). New Delhi: Oxford University Press. pp. 18–19.
- hdl:10088/14891.
- ^ Ripley, S. Dillon (1945). "A new Race of Nightjar from Ceylon". Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club. 65: 40–41.
- ^ a b c Rasmussen PC & JC Anderton (2005). Birds of South Asia. The Ripley Guide. Volume 2. Washington DC and Barcelona: Smithsonian Institution and Lynx Edicions. p. 254.