Birds of the World

New Caledonian Nightjar Eurostopodus exul Scientific name definitions

Josep del Hoyo, Nigel Collar, Ernest Garcia, and Christopher J. Sharpe
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated March 17, 2015

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Field Identification

26 cm. 77 g. Wing of female 184 mm (1). A pale silvery-grey nightjar with fairly sparse blackish brown blotches and streaks above. Crown blackish. Wing-coverts greyish brown, speckled brown and broadly spotted whitish buff. Scapulars greyish brown on inner webs, greyish white on outer webs, broadly streaked blackish brown in the centre. Shows similar wing markings to E. nigripennis. Lacks nuchal collar. Breast brown, frosted greyish white and greyish brown.  Has a small white throat patch.

Systematics History

Until recently considered conspecific with E. mystacalis and E. nigripennis but differs from the latter in its notably short wing (at least 2), much stonier-white upperparts (3), clearer, broader and more unified black on central crown (at least 1), and minimal rufous hindcollar (although some nigripennis show relatively little rufous) (1); but known only from a single specimen. Monotypic.

Subspecies

Monotypic.

Distribution

New Caledonia. Probably extinct (2).

Habitat

The sole known specimen was collected in coastal savanna vegetation at Tao (3).

Movement

Unknown.

Diet and Foraging

Unknown.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Unknown.

Breeding

Unknown.

CRITICALLY ENDANGERED (POSSIBLY EXTINCT). Restricted-range species: present in New Caledonia EBA. Known only from the type-specimen, collected in August 1939 on coastal plains near Mt Panie (3). Intensive surveys in 1998 failed to find the species (4).

Distribution of the New Caledonian Nightjar - Range Map
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  • Year-round
  • Migration
  • Breeding
  • Non-Breeding
Distribution of the New Caledonian Nightjar

Recommended Citation

del Hoyo, J., N. Collar, E. F. J. Garcia, and C. J. Sharpe (2020). New Caledonian Nightjar (Eurostopodus exul), 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.necnig2.01
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