Great Eared-Nightjar

About the Great Eared-Nightjar

The great eared nightjar (Lyncornis macrotis) is a species of nightjar in the genus Lyncornis. It is found in southwest India and in parts of Southeast Asia. This very large nightjar has long barred wings, a barred tail and long ear-tufts which are often recumbent. It has a white throat band but has no white on its wings or on its tail.

The great eared nightjar was formally described in 1831 by the Irish zoologist Nicholas Aylward Vigors based on a sample collected in the neighbourhood of Manila in the Philippines. Vigors coined the binomial name Caprimulgus macrotis. The great eared nightjar was formerly placed in the genus Eurostopodus. It and the closely related Malaysian eared nightjar were moved to the resurrected genus Lyncornis based on the results of a molecular phylogenetic study published in 2010 that found large genetic differences between the great eared nightjar and other species in Eurostopodus. The genus name Lyncornis combines the Ancient Greek λύγξ /lunx/ (meaning "lynx") with ὄρνις /ornis/, meaning "bird". The specific epithet macrotis is from the Ancient Greek μακρὦτης /makrōtēs/, meaning "long-eared" (from μακρός /makros/ meaning "long" and οὖς /ous/... Wikipedia →