Caprimulgiformes
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Steatornithidae |
The Caprimulgiformes is an order of birds that includes the cosmopolitan nightjars, the frogmouths of Australasia and Southeast Asia, the South American potoos and Oilbird, and the Australasian owlet-nightjars. Nearly all are insectivorous and nocturnal, although the Oilbird is the world's only nocturnal bird which eats mainly plant food.
The classification of the various birds that make up the order has long been controversial and difficult, particularly in the case of the nightjars.
Traditionally, they were regarded, on morphological grounds, as being midway between the owls (Strigiformes) and the swifts. Like the owls, they are nocturnal hunters with a highly developed sense of sight, and like the swifts they are excellent flyers with small, weak legs.
However at one time or another, they have lumped with owls, swifts, kingfishers, hoopoes, mousebirds, hornbills, rollers, bee-eaters, woodpeckers, trogons and hummingbirds A recent, detailed study into the molecular relationships of modern birds[citation needed] includes Caprimulgiformes within the clade Metaves,which also includes the hoatzin, tropicbirds, sandgrouse, pigeons, kagu, sunbittern, mesites, flamingos, grebes and swifts and hummingbirds.
The order gets its name from the Latin for goatsucker, an old name based on an erroneous view of the Eurasian Nightjar's feeding habits.
[edit] Caprimulgiformes
- Family Steatornithidae (Oilbird)
- Family Podargidae (frogmouths, 12 species in 2 genera)
- Family Nyctibiidae (Potoos, about 5 species in 1 genus)
- Family Caprimulgidae
- Subfamily Chordeilinae (New World nighthawks)
- Subfamily Caprimulginae (typical nightjars)
- Family Eurostopodidae (eared-nightjars)
The Aegothelidae (owlet-nightjars) with about a dozen living species in one genus belong, according to recent research, into the Apodiformes; these and the Caprimulgiformes are closely related, being grouped together as Cypselomorphae (Mayr, 2002).
[edit] References
- Mayr, G. (2002): Osteological evidence for paraphyly of the avian order Caprimulgiformes (nightjars and allies). Journal für Ornithologie 143(1): 82–97. DOI:10.1046/j.1439-0361.2002.01030.x HTML abstract
