Rufous-bellied Nighthawk

About the Rufous-bellied Nighthawk

The rufous-bellied nighthawk (Lurocalis rufiventris), sometimes also Taczanowski's nighthawk, is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. The rufous-bellied nighthawk was described as a species, later was treated as a subspecies of short-tailed nighthawk (Lurocalis semitorquatus), but since at least the late 1990s has been again accepted as a species in its own right. It is monotypic.

The rufous-bellied nighthawk is 23 to 25 cm (9.1 to 9.8 in) long. Its uppersides and wings are dark brown with rufous and buff spots and speckles. The tail is brown with tawny or grayish brown bars and a pale tip. The chin is dark brown, the throat white, the breast dark brown, and the belly and flanks tawny buff.

The rufous-bellied nighthawk is found in the Andes of western Venezuela, the eastern and central Andes of Colombia, the west side of much of the Ecuadoran Andes, and the east side of the Andes through Ecuador and Peru into Bolivia. It inhabits humid montane cloudforest, in at least Ecuador and Peru at elevations between 1,500 and 3,450 m (4... Wikipedia →