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GrasslandScrapeSmall · 31 g
What the Least Nighthawk sounds like
ID tip
The least nighthawk is 15 to 25 cm (5.9 to 9.8 in) long, making it one of the smallest species in family Caprimulgidae. Two females weighed 27.8 and 33.4 g (0.98 and 1.18 oz) The general plumage pattern is brown upperparts with gray, rufous, and buff spots, and whitish or buff underparts with brown bars. The throat has a narrow white patch or small white patches on either side of it. The four outermost primaries have a white band that is highly visible in flight. Males also have white tips on some other wing feathers. Voice: The least nighthawk's flight call has been variously described as "a low churr and a weak nasal beep or week" and as "a short, sharp whit or bit". It sings from the ground or a bush, "a fast cur-cur-cur-curry (or chu-chu-chu-chu-chuEE).
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
When to see the Least Nighthawk
One bar for each month, and every month is filled: this bird is recorded here in all twelve. The wide bar is February, the month with the most records.
Where to see the Least Nighthawk
The map shades 6 countries with regular records, and 1 more in a lighter tone where the bird turns up only as a stray. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.
Recorded as a rare visitor in Argentina.
About the Least Nighthawk
The least nighthawk is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Easily confused with
Sand-colored NighthawkChordeiles rupestrisThe sand-colored nighthawk is 20.5 to 22 cm (8.1 to 8.7 in) long.
Nacunda NighthawkChordeiles nacundaThe nacunda nighthawk is not only the largest of the highly aerial nightjars known as nighthawks and the largest species of nightjar in the neotropics, it is one of the largest nightjar species in the world.
Antillean NighthawkChordeiles gundlachiiThe adults are dark with brown, grey and white patterning on the upperparts and breast; the long wings are black and show a white bar in flight.
Side by side: Antillean Nighthawk vs Least Nighthawk · Least Nighthawk vs Nacunda Nighthawk · Least Nighthawk vs Sand-colored Nighthawk
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