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Nighthawks have small feet, of little use for walking, and long pointed wings. Their soft plumage is cryptically coloured to resemble bark or leaves. Some species perch facing along a branch, rather than across it as birds usually do. This helps to conceal them during the day. The female lays two
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Nighthawks are similar in most respects to the nightjars, but have shorter bills and plumage that is less soft. Nighthawks are less strictly nocturnal than many nightjars and may be seen hunting when there is still light in the sky.
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published research on the common nighthawk revealing that it travels 20,000 km (12,000 mi) every year during migration between the rainforests and savannas of Brazil and its breeding grounds in northern
Alberta.
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They are mostly active in the late evening and early morning or at night and feed on moths and other large flying insects. The bill opens very wide and has a slightly hooked upper tip.
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Nighthawks are medium-sized birds with long wings, short legs, and very short bills. They usually nest on the ground. They feed on flying insects. The
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Nightjars are sometimes referred to as goatsuckers from the mistaken belief that they suck milk from goats (the
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family, Caprimulgidae, native to the western hemisphere. The term "nighthawk", first recorded in the
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629:"Scientists track nighthawks' migration route in search of clues to species' steep decline"
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334:, at 16 centimetres (6.3 in) and 23 grams (0.81 oz), is the smallest of all
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323:. Its use in the Americas to refer to members of the genus
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of 1611, was originally a local name in
England for the
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64:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
19:This article is about the bird. For the plane, see
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327:and related genera was first recorded in 1778.
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361:patterned eggs directly onto bare ground.
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124:Learn how and when to remove this message
23:. For the painting by Edward Hopper, see
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614:participating institution membership
62:adding citations to reliable sources
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627:Willis, Katie (October 1, 2018).
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392:A nighthawk resting on a branch
49:needs additional citations for
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29:Nighthawk (disambiguation)
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601:Oxford English Dictionary
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167:Scientific classification
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478:Rufous-bellied nighthawk
398:Taxonomy and systematics
21:Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk
606:Oxford University Press
490:Lurocalis semitorquatus
380:Nighthawk wing markings
566:Sand-colored nighthawk
543:Chordeiles acutipennis
486:Short-tailed nighthawk
447:Nyctiprogne vielliardi
443:Plain-tailed nighthawk
27:. For other uses, see
534:Chordeiles gundlachii
481:Lurocalis rufiventris
438:Nyctiprogne leucopyga
434:Band-tailed nighthawk
354:University of Alberta
352:In October 2018, the
570:Chordeiles rupestris
58:improve this article
604:(Online ed.).
561:Chordeiles pusillus
530:Antillean nighthawk
25:Nighthawks (Hopper)
525:Chordeiles nacunda
345:for goatsucker is
307:of the subfamily
16:Subfamily of birds
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656:Taxon identifiers
612:(Subscription or
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521:Nacunda nighthawk
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539:Lesser nighthawk
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317:King James Bible
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47:This article
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744:Chordeilinae
694:Chordeilinae
664:Chordeilinae
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636:. Retrieved
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114:October 2023
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56:Please help
51:verification
48:
688:Wikispecies
595:"Nighthawk"
420:Nyctiprogne
347:Caprimulgus
272:Nyctiprogne
253:Subfamily:
73:"Nighthawk"
638:October 1,
616:required.)
580:References
507:Chordeiles
325:Chordeiles
286:Chordeiles
141:Nighthawk
84:newspapers
464:Lurocalis
425:Bonaparte
302:nocturnal
298:nighthawk
279:Lurocalis
227:Strisores
190:Kingdom:
184:Eukaryota
738:Category
673:Wikidata
633:Phys.org
512:Swainson
313:nightjar
243:Family:
204:Chordata
200:Phylum:
194:Animalia
180:Domain:
679:Q945260
263:Genera
233:Order:
210:Class:
98:scholar
708:686638
514:, 1832
471:, 1851
469:Cassin
427:, 1857
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721:48287
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408:Genus
405:Image
343:Latin
300:is a
221:Clade
105:JSTOR
91:books
716:NCBI
703:ITIS
640:2018
305:bird
296:The
214:Aves
77:news
568:,
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523:,
436:,
349:).
60:by
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
