''Antrostomus'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

nightjar Nightjars are medium-sized nocturnal or crepuscular birds in the family Caprimulgidae and order Caprimulgiformes, characterised by long wings, short legs, and very short bills. They are sometimes called bugeaters, their primary source of food ...

s formerly included in the genus ''

Caprimulgus ''Caprimulgus'' is a large and very widespread genus of nightjars, medium-sized nocturnal birds with long pointed wings, short legs and short bills. ''Caprimulgus'' is derived from the Latin ''capra'', "nanny goat", and ''mulgere'', "to milk", re ...

''. They are medium-sized

nocturnal Nocturnality is a ethology, behavior in some non-human animals characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnality, diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatur ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

s with long pointed wings, short legs and short bills. ''Antrostomus'' nightjars are found in the

New World The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...

, and like other nightjars they usually nest on the ground. They are mostly active in the late evening and early morning or at night, and feed predominantly on moths and other large flying insects. Most have small feet, of little use for walking, and their soft plumage is cryptically coloured to resemble bark or leaves. They have relatively long bills and rictal bristles. Some species, unusually for birds, perch along a branch, rather than across it, which helps to conceal them during the day. Temperate species are strongly migratory, wintering in the tropics. Many have repetitive and often mechanical songs. These species were formerly placed in the genus ''

'' but were moved to the resurrected genus ''Antrostomus'' based on the results of a

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

study published in 2010. The genus ''Antrostomus'' was erected by the French naturalist Charles Bonaparte in 1838 with the

chuck-will's-widow The chuck-will's-widow (''Antrostomus carolinensis'') is a nocturnal bird of the nightjar family Caprimulgidae. It is mostly found in the southeastern United States (with disjunct populations in Long Island, New York; Ontario, Canada; and Cape C ...

(''Antrostomus carolinensis'') as the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

. The generic name combines the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

''antron'' meaning "cavern" and ''stoma'' meaning "mouth".

Species

The genus contains 12 species: *

Chuck-will's-widow The chuck-will's-widow (''Antrostomus carolinensis'') is a nocturnal bird of the nightjar family Caprimulgidae. It is mostly found in the southeastern United States (with disjunct populations in Long Island, New York; Ontario, Canada; and Cape C ...

''Antrostomus carolinensis'' *

Rufous nightjar The rufous nightjar (''Antrostomus rufus'') is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guyana, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Lucia, Suriname, Trinidad and Tob ...

, ''Antrostomus rufus'' *

Cuban nightjar The Cuban nightjar, sometimes also Greater Antillean nightjar (''Antrostomus cubanensis''), is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is endemic to Cuba. Taxonomy and systematics The Cuban nightjar was originally described as ...

, ''Antrostomus cubanensis'' * Hispaniolan nightjar, ''Antrostomus ekmani'' *

Tawny-collared nightjar The tawny-collared nightjar (''Antrostomus salvini'') is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is endemic to Mexico. Taxonomy and systematics The tawny-collared nightjar was originally described as ''Caprimulgus salvini''; '' ...

, ''Antrostomus salvini'' * Yucatan nightjar, ''Antrostomus badius'' *

Buff-collared nightjar The buff-collared nightjar or Ridgway's whip-poor-will (''Antrostomus ridgwayi'') is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is found in Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and the U.S. state of Arizona.Bowers Jr., R. K. and ...

, ''Antrostomus ridgwayi'' *

Eastern whip-poor-will The eastern whip-poor-will (''Antrostomus vociferus''; also called "whip-o-will", "whip o' will", etc.) is a medium-sized () bird within the nightjar family, Caprimulgidae, from North America. The whip-poor-will is commonly heard within its ran ...

, ''Antrostomus vociferus'' *

Mexican whip-poor-will The Mexican whip-poor-will, (''Antrostomus arizonae''), is a medium-sized nightjar of the southwestern United States, Mexico, and northern Central America. Taxonomy and systematics Until 2010 the Mexican whip-poor-will and what is now the eas ...

, ''Antrostomus arizonae'' *

Dusky nightjar The dusky nightjar or dusky whip-poor-will (''Antrostomus saturatus'') is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is found in Costa Rica and Panama.Chase, J. (2020). Dusky Nightjar (''Antrostomus saturatus''), version 1.0. In Bir ...

, ''Antrostomus saturatus'' *

Puerto Rican nightjar The Puerto Rican nightjar, Puerto Rican whip-poor-will or guabairo (''Antrostomus noctitherus'') is a bird in the nightjar family found in the coastal dry scrub forests in localized areas of southwestern Puerto Rico. It was described in 1916 fro ...

, ''Antrostomus noctitherus'' *

Silky-tailed nightjar The silky-tailed nightjar (''Antrostomus sericocaudatus'') is a species of nightjar birds in the family Caprimulgidae. It is found in Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland for ...

, ''Antrostomus sericocaudatus''

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1573935 Bird genera Taxa named by Charles Lucien Bonaparte