Nighthawk
Subfamily of birds
title: "Nighthawk" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["chordeilinae"] description: "Subfamily of birds" topic_path: "general/chordeilinae" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nighthawk" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Subfamily of birds ::
::callout[type=note] the bird ::
|taxon = Chordeilinae | image = Chordeiles_minorEJN31CB.jpg | image_caption = Common nighthawk, Chordeiles minor |subdivision_ranks = Genera |subdivision =
Nighthawks are ten New World species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae.
The nightjar family Caprimulgidae has been traditionally divided into two subfamilies, Chordeilinae containing the nighthawks in four genera, and Caprimulginae containing all the remaining species. The subfamily Chordeilinae had been introduced in 1851 by the American ornithologist John Cassin. The nighthawks were placed in four genera: Chordeiles Swainson, 1832 containing five species, Lurocalis Cassin, 1851 containing two species, Podager Wagler, 1832 containing the nacunda nighthawk, and Nyctiprogne Bonaparte, 1857 containing two species. The nighthawks have short bills and generally lack the elongated rictal bristles that are present in other nightjars. They also tend to be less nocturnal than other nightjars and can be observed feeding at dawn and at dusk.
::data[format=table]
| Image | Genus | Living species |
|---|---|---|
| [[File:Nyctiprogne_leucopyga_Band-tailed_Nighthawk;_Arari,_Maranhão,_Brazil.jpg | thumb]] | Nyctiprogne Bonaparte, 1857 |
| [[File:Rufous-bellied_Nighthawk.jpg | thumb]] | Lurocalis Cassin, 1851 |
| [[File:Common_Nighthawk.JPG | thumb]] | Chordeiles Swainson, 1832 |
| :: |
Discovery
It is believed that the term "nighthawk", first recorded in the King James Bible of 1611, was originally a local name in England for the European nightjar. Its use in the Americas to refer to members of the genus Chordeiles and related genera was first recorded in 1778 when John Cassin, a renowned ornithologist responsible for the establishment of the Delaware County Institute of Science, established the classification. Fossil records indicate that specimens later identified to be the common nighthawks (Chordeiles minor) excavated in the Southwestern US could be traced back as far as 400,000 years (during the Pleistocene era) meaning that the subfamily has been an entrenched component of New World ecology for a significant duration of time.
References
References
- Cleere, N.. (1999). "Handbook of the Birds of the World". Lynx Edicions.
- Cassin, John. (1851). "Catalogue of the Caprimulgidae in the collections of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia". Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia.
- Bock, Walter J.. (1994). "History and Nomenclature of Avian Family-Group Names". American Museum of Natural History.
- (2010). "A multi-gene estimate of phylogeny in the nightjars and nighthawks (Caprimulgidae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.
- (2025). "What is an eared nightjar? Ultraconserved elements clarify the evolutionary relationships of ''Eurostopodus'' and ''Lyncornis'' nightjars (Aves: Caprimulgidae)". Bulletin of the Society of Systematic Biologists.
- (2023). "Systematic revision and generic classification of a clade of New World nightjars (Caprimulgidae), with descriptions of new genera from South America". Avian Systematics.
- {{Cite OED. Nighthawk
- (2019-08-28). "The People Behind the Birds Named for People: John Cassin".
- "Common Nighthawk Overview, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology".
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