Mystery Bird: Lesser Nighthawk, Chordeiles acutipennis

hmmm, suckling on goats in the night sounds a little farfetched... the relatively sleek shape narrows this one down to three possibilities and with such a good photo of the wing pattern (and the gray on the back) one doesn't need to see the location of the white patch on the primaries to recognise this as the one with the "pointed wings"...

it is rather a striking image, isn't it? besides showing off this stunning bird, it also serves another function: to indulge my fascination and passion for plumage colors and patterns. sharing with my peeps is an added bonus.

Great shot. I think the row of white spots on the wing coverts is diagnostic.

Great shot. I've seen them often, but never managed to catch one perched.

Hmmm...I'd guess Lesser.

I had no idea there were so many goatsuckers in south texas. I really need to get down there!

You're sharing with your peeps comment cracked me up, because running parallel in my mind with narrowing down the bird was "hey, that looks like a special kind of peep!" For some reason, the oblong eye is really striking.

Great picture!

(Common Nighthawk?)

WTF?!

This may get corrected when someone finds it but take a look at the fourth paragraph of the Common Nightjar description in that denizen of disinformation, Wikipedia!

Omg.. that's hysterical! I printed it for everyone here.

Hey Bardiac,

Take a look at the row of white spots that Michael pointed out that are visible on the wing above and then compare them to what you would see on a Common or even an Antillean Nighthawk... I think the fact that they are white as opposed to buff points towards this being a male...

re. comment #8, I meant to write "Common Nighthawk" and not "Nightjar" which is often used as the common name for the entire family Caprimulgidae, although- please corect me if I'm mistaken, I think that the distinction is more accurately made between the two subfamilies, Chordeilinae being the "nighthawks" and Caprimulginae being the "nightjars"

The Wiki vandalism was corrected while I was logging in to fix it myself.

The vandalism happened just under 2 hours ago, it was done by an anonymous editor @67.214.2.157.

LOL Paul!

For those who missed it:

They mostly eat human body parts, as they have very high protein. The brain is normally their favorite, because of the saltiness about it. Although, when it is very hungry, it will eat parts of the leg muscle, and occasionally the stomach. Insects and spiders are not good enough for them, they need humans to feast off of.

Thanks for the repost, David. I was beginnning to wonder if you hadn't come down with a case of cabin fever after all that snow!

I wasn't aware of that field mark, Michael. Is there a reference you can direct me to?

Hey Paul,

Try this "Lesser Nighthawk Identification Revisited" post on the Cape May Bird Observatory blog

Man, I can't tell these guys apart very well. Looks a bit buffier than a Common Nighthawk, so I'll go Lesser.

Based upon the Cape May id I referenced above I think we can see a number of the same field marks:

p10 significantly shorter than p9 (CM#2);

I fancy I do see some small buffy spots at the base of the primaries (CM#3);

prominent buff-white spots on the wing coverts and scapulars (CM#6);

relatively broad ends to the primaries (CM#7).

Thanks, David. I'm thinking this might be a female, actually. The primary bar seems rather dull for a male, although not the buff I would really expect from an obvious female. The buff spots at the base of the primaries appear extensive enough to form complete bars, as on females, and the throat patch is virtually nonexistent, while what is present appears to be as much buff as white. I also don't see any obvious banding on the tail, although the angle doesn't help much with that.
Given the throat patch and the odd primary patch, could this be a year old bird?

Perhaps you're right on it being a female Paul- I was basing my guess on the relative whiteness of the scapular/wing covert spotting as illustrated in Sibley's Eastern Guide...

what I also note from that Sibley's is a buffiness to the coloring on the crown of a female (as appears above) as opposed to the gray he has painted on a male and I can see how the buff spots could turn out to be a female's buff bars, but isn't there enough whitish marking posterior to the buff you note that could be the bar itself, and therefore more male?

I did come across an interesting 1996 article in the Murrelet dscussing dichromatism in juvenile Lessers, even between siblings, so perhaps the interplay of some whitish and some buffy marks together with a lack of a distinct throat patch points indeed to juvenile...

Hello all, I think I've finally sorted out the problem of commenting here. I see you have more or less sorted out the last two birds and all I can add is according to my "Nightjars" by Cleere and Nurney they list 7 subspecies for Lesser and 9 for Common Nighthawk. Does this shed any light onto the differences in plumage being discussed?