The eared poorwill (''Nyctiphrynus mcleodii'') is a species of

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 ...

in the family Caprimulgidae. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The eared poorwill has sometimes been placed in genus ''Otophanes''. Two subspecies, the nominate ''Nyctiphrynus mcleodii mcleodii'' and ''N. m. rayi'' are recognized by most authorities. However, some authors contend that the latter is invalid.Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2021. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2021. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/ Retrieved August 25, 2021HBW and BirdLife International (2020) ''Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world'' Version 5. Available at: http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v5_Dec20.zip xls zipped 1 MBretrieved May 27, 2021Cleere, N. and G. M. Kirwan (2020). Eared Poorwill (''Nyctiphrynus mcleodii''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.earpoo1.01 retrieved October 12, 2021

Description

The eared poorwill is long. Males weigh and females . The nominate subspecies' upperparts are grayish with black and white spots on the wings. A white band that is wider on the throat encircles the neck. They have crown feathers that project as "ear tufts". The breast is grayish and the belly buff with white spots. The tail feathers except the central pair have white tips. There is also a rufous morph that has an overall cinnamon to reddish brown color. ''N. m. rayi'' has darker and grayer underparts and the white spots on the wings are smaller.

Distribution and habitat

The eared poorwill is found for most of the length of western Mexico. ''N. m. mcleodii'' is found from Chihuahua and

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into Municipalities of Sonora, 72 ...

south to

Jalisco Jalisco, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is located in western Mexico and is bordered by s ...

and

Colima Colima, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Colima, is among the 31 states that make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It shares its name with its capital and main city, Colima. Colima is a small state of western Mexico on the cen ...

. ''N. m. rayi'' is found in

Guerrero Guerrero, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guerrero, is one of the 32 states that compose the administrative divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Guerrero, 85 municipalities. The stat ...

and

Oaxaca Oaxaca, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca, is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of the Mexico, United Mexican States. It is divided into municipalities of Oaxaca, 570 munici ...

. (All of the records in the last state are between February and May, indicating some seasonal movement.) They mainly inhabit open pine/oak or oak woodland in semi-arid mountainous terrain. They can also be found in wooded gulleys, hillsides below

cloudforest A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest, is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, montane, moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud cover, ...

, and overgrown fields. In elevation the species ranges mostly from but has been recorded up to .

Behavior

Feeding

The eared poorwill forages for insects by sallying from trees or the ground. Beetles and moths appear to form the bulk of its diet.

Breeding

The eared poorwill apparently breeds between April and June. The clutch of two eggs is laid directly on the ground and both sexes incubate them.

Vocalization

The male eared poorwill's song is "a loud, abrupt 'peeyo' or 'peejo' that ends emphatically", and is given at night from a perch or the ground. It also makes "a descending, wavering 'teu-uu-uu'." Calls include "gwik", "wuik", and "chuck" notes.

Status

The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

originally assessed the eared poorwill as Near Threatened but since 2004 has rated it as being of Least Concern. It has a large range and population, though the latter is thought to be decreasing. No immediate threats have been identified.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1268498 eared poorwill Endemic birds of Western Mexico Birds of the Sierra Madre Occidental Birds of the Sierra Madre del Sur eared poorwill Taxa named by William Brewster (ornithologist) Taxonomy articles created by Polbot