The Chocó poorwill (''Nyctiphrynus rosenbergi'') is a species of
nightjar in the family
Caprimulgidae. It is found in
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
and
Ecuador
Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...
.
Taxonomy and systematics
The Chocó poorwill was originally described as ''Caprimulgus rosenbergi'', in a genus that was later split into multiple genera. For a time it was treated as a subspecies of
ocellated poorwill
The ocellated poorwill (''Nyctiphrynus ocellatus'') is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Paraguay, and Peru.
Taxonomy and systemati ...
(''Nyctiphrynus ocellatus'') but plumage, vocalization, and genetic differences show it to be its own species. It is
monotypic
In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...
.
[Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 24 August 2021. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved August 24, 2021][Byington, J. (2020). Choco Poorwill (''Nyctiphrynus rosenbergi''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.chopoo1.01 retrieved October 12, 2021]
Description
The Chocó poorwill is long; one female weighed . Adults are generally variations on dark brown. The head is grayish with many black spots, the back grayish with cinnamon and rufous speckles, and the rump browner with grayish white speckles. The wings are brown to dark brown with tawny, cinnamon, and rufous spots and speckles and two prominent white spots. The chin is dark brown with cinnamon speckles and the throat has a large white patch. The breast is brown with cinnamon barring and speckles, the belly and flanks blackish brown with dense narrow grayish white bars. Juveniles are similar to adults but lack the two white spots on the wing and their back and breast markings are more chestnut.
[
]
Distribution and habitat
The Chocó poorwill is found on the Pacific slope from the northern part of Colombia's Chocó Department south into Ecuador's Esmeraldas Province
Esmeraldas () is a province in northwestern Ecuador. The capital is Esmeraldas.
The province is home to the Afro-Ecuadorian culture.
Demographics
Ethnic groups as of the Ecuadorian census of 2010:
*Mestizo 44.7%
* Afro-Ecuadorian 43.9%
*W ...
and perhaps further south as well. It inhabits the Pacific/Chocó natural region
The Pacific/Chocó region is one of the five major natural regions of Colombia. Ecologically, this region belongs entirely to the Chocó Biogeographic Region and is considered a biodiversity hotspot. It also has areas with the highest rainfall ...
, a biome characterized by very humid evergreen forest
An evergreen forest is a forest made up of evergreen trees. They occur across a wide range of climatic zones, and include trees such as conifers and holly in cold climates, eucalyptus, Live oak, acacias, magnolia, and banksia in more temperate zone ...
. It appears to favor edges such as along rivers and in treefall openings. In elevation it ranges from sea level to .[
]
Behavior
Feeding
The Chocó poorwill is crepuscular
In zoology, a crepuscular animal is one that is active primarily during the twilight period, being matutinal, vespertine, or both. This is distinguished from diurnal and nocturnal behavior, where an animal is active during the hours of daylig ...
and nocturnal
Nocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnal meaning the opposite.
Nocturnal creatures generally have highly developed sens ...
. It has been observed foraging by sallies from the ground or a perch and also in continuous flight above the canopy. Its diet is insects but the details have not been studied.[
]
Breeding
Virtually nothing is known about the Chocó poorwill's breeding phenology
Phenology is the study of periodic events in biological life cycles and how these are influenced by seasonality, seasonal and interannual variations in climate, as well as environmental factor, habitat factors (such as elevation).
Examples includ ...
. It is assumed to lay one or two eggs directly on the ground like other members of family Caprimulgidae. Its breeding season is believed to span from March to June.[
]
Vocalization
The Chocó poorwill's song is "a resonant, whistled rhythmic ''kwor kwor kwor kweeér''". It also makes "frog-like notes such as ''kwok'' or ''kwi-kwok'', and a ''klaw''".[
]
Status
The IUCN
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...
has assessed the Chocó poorwill as least concern. Its population size is unknown but is believed to be decreasing due to accelerating deforestation for settlement, conversion to oil palm plantations, and other uses.[
]
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1261378
Chocó poorwill
Birds of the Tumbes-Chocó-Magdalena
Chocó poorwill
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot