Swallow-tailed Nightjar

About the Swallow-tailed Nightjar

The swallow-tailed nightjar (Uropsalis segmentata) is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. The swallow-tailed nightjar shares its genus with the lyre-tailed nightjar (Uropsalis lyra) and has two subspecies, the nominate U. s. segmentata and U. s. kalinowskii. The nominate was originally described as Hydropsalis segmentata and U. s. kalinowskii as a separate species, Macropsalis kalinowskii.

The male swallow-tailed nightjar has extremely long outer tail feathers from which the species gets its name; the female's tail is much shorter and less graduated. The male is 66 cm (26 in) long including the tail streamers and weighs about 42 g (1.5 oz). The female is 23 cm (9.1 in) long and weighs about 43 g (1.5 oz). The upperparts of both sexes of the nominate subspecies are dark brown with many tawny spots. The tail is generally brown; the outer tail feathers of both sexes have white shafts and outer webs and the others have tawny bars and spots. The wings are brown to grayish brown with tawny spots. The chin and throat are dark brown with buff spots, the breast dark brown with... Wikipedia →