Roadless Areas
Home/Species/ Lesser Nighthawk

Chordeiles acutipennis

(Hermann, 1783)

Lesser Nighthawk

G5Secure Found in 6 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G5SecureGlobal Rank
Least concernIUCN
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.104634
Element CodeABNTA02010
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVertebrate Animal
IUCNLeast concern
Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumCraniata
ClassAves
OrderCaprimulgiformes
FamilyCaprimulgidae
GenusChordeiles
Other Common Names
Bacurau-de-Asa-Fina (PT) Chotacabras Menor, Cuyabito (ES) Engoulevent minime (FR)
Concept Reference
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in The Auk]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
Conservation Status
Review Date1996-12-02
Change Date1996-12-02
Range Extent Comments
BREEDING: from central California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah, western and central Arizona, southern New Mexico, western and southern Texas, south to Peru, northern Chile, Paraguay, southern Brazil. NON-BREEDING: southern Baja California, central Sinaloa, Durango and Veracruz, Mexico, south to limits of breeding range (Terres 1980, AOU 1983). Seldom north of central Mexico in northern winter.
Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

Open country, desert regions, scrub, savanna and cultivated areas, primarily in arid habitats (Tropical and Subtropical zones) (AOU 1983). Open areas with scattered woods or scrub, usually near water, including open marshes, salt ponds, large rivers, rice paddies, beaches (Costa Rica, Stiles and Skutch 1989). Roosts on low perch or on ground, in Panama especially in mangroves and swampy areas (Ridgely and Gwynne 1989). Nests in open on bare site; on open savanna or debris-strewn beach in Costa Rica (Stiles and Skutch 1989).

Ecology

Wanders "great distances" in search of food (Caccamise 1974).

Reproduction

Clutch size 2. Incubation by female, 18-19 days. One brood annually. Nestlings are semi-precocial and downy, tended by both adults, can fly in about 3 weeks (Harrison 1978). Nests usually in loose colony of up to 10 pairs in Costa Rica (Stiles and Skutch 1989).
Terrestrial Habitats
Shrubland/chaparralSavannaGrassland/herbaceousOld fieldDesertCropland/hedgerowAerial
Palustrine Habitats
Aerial
Other Nations (1)
United StatesN5B
ProvinceRankNative
CaliforniaSNRYes
TexasS4BYes
New MexicoS5B,S5NYes
NevadaS4BYes
UtahS1BYes
ArizonaS5Yes
Roadless Areas (6)
Arizona (4)
AreaForestAcres
Catalina St. Pk. Roadless AreaCoronado National Forest951
Middle Romero WSRCoronado National Forest60
PinalenoCoronado National Forest130,920
WhetstoneCoronado National Forest20,728
California (1)
AreaForestAcres
Fox MountainLos Padres National Forest52,072
New Mexico (1)
AreaForestAcres
Peloncillo (NM)Coronado National Forest43,339
References (21)
  1. American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1983. Check-list of North American Birds, 6th edition. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 877 pp.
  2. American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in <i>The Auk</i>]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
  3. BirdLife International. 2004b. Threatened birds of the world 2004. CD ROM. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK.
  4. Bornschein, M. R., B. L. Reinert, and M. Pichorim. 1997. Notas sobre algumas aves novas ou pouco conhecidas no sul do Brasil. Ararajuba 5:53-59.
  5. Braun, M. J., D. W. Finch, M. B. Robbins, and B. K. Schmidt. 2000. A field checklist of the birds of Guyana. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
  6. Bureau of Land Management. Life History Summaries.
  7. Caccamise, D. F. 1974. Competitive relationships of the Common and Lesser Nighthawks. Condor 76:1-20.
  8. Hagan, J. M., III, and D. W. Johnston, editors. 1992. Ecology and conservation of neotropical migrant landbirds. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C. xiii + 609 pp.
  9. Harrison, C. 1978. A Field Guide to the Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of North American Birds. Collins, Cleveland, Ohio.
  10. Hilty, S.L. and W. L. Brown. 1986. A Guide to the Birds of Colombia. Princeton University Press, Princeton, USA. 836 pp.
  11. Howell, S. N. G., and S. Webb. 1995. A guide to the birds of Mexico and northern Central America. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.
  12. Ligon, J.S. 1961. New Mexico birds and where to find them. The University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.
  13. Parker III, T. A., D. F. Stotz, and J. W. Fitzpatrick. 1996. Ecological and distributional databases for neotropical birds. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
  14. Ridgely, R. S. 2002. Distribution maps of South American birds. Unpublished.
  15. Ridgely, R. S. and J. A. Gwynne, Jr. 1989. A Guide to the Birds of Panama. 2nd edition. Princeton University Press, Princeton, USA.
  16. Ridgely, R. S., and J. A. Gwynne, Jr. 1989. A guide to the birds of Panama with Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Honduras. Second edition. Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton, New Jersey. 534 pp.
  17. Sauer, J.R., and S. Droege. 1992. Geographical patterns in population trends of Neotropical migrants in North America. Pages 26-42 in J.M. Hagan, III, and D.W. Johnston, editors. Ecology and conservation of Neotropical migrant landbirds. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC.
  18. Sibley, D. A. 2000a. The Sibley guide to birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
  19. Stiles, F. G. and A. F. Skutch. 1989. A guide to the birds of Costa Rica. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, USA. 511 pp.
  20. Terres, J. K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
  21. Zook, J. L. 2002. Distribution maps of the birds of Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. Unpublished.