A medium nightjar with distinctive wing pattern.
§ Quick facts
§ Encyclopedia
The lesser nighthawk is a nightjar found throughout a large part of the Americas. This bird looks similar to the common nighthawk but is slightly smaller, has a slightly less deeply forked tail, and is more buffy in coloration. Their distinctive mouths are very well adapted for capturing insects mid-flight.
Source: Wikipedia — Lesser nighthawk Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
§ Identification
Field marks. Slim, long-winged nightjar mottled gray-brown with a white wing bar set close to the wingtip; flies low with erratic, fluttering wingbeats. Males show a white throat and tail band.
Similar species. Common Nighthawk flies higher with stiffer wingbeats and has the white wing bar set farther from the tip; the Lesser flutters low at dusk in the desert.
Voice. A soft, low, toad-like trill or churr and a whinnying call, lacking the Common's nasal 'peent'.
§ Diet & behavior
Diet. Flying insects caught at dusk/night.
Behavior. A nighthawk of arid southwestern lowlands that hunts insects low over deserts and fields at dusk with a fluttery, bat-like flight, lower and more buoyant than the Common Nighthawk.
§ Range
Southwestern US
§ Habitat
Open desert habitats
§ Threats
Habitat loss.
§ Conservation status
According to the IUCN Red List, the lesser nighthawk is currently classified as Least Concern.
§ What helps
Support southwestern habitat conservation.
§ Further reading
- Wikipedia — Lesser nighthawk
- www.allaboutbirds.org — authoritative profile of Chordeiles acutipennis
- IUCN Red List — search for Chordeiles acutipennis
- GBIF occurrence records
- Encyclopedia of Life — Chordeiles acutipennis
§ Sources cited
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology — All About Birds
- National Audubon Society
- iNaturalist
- IUCN Red List
