Tschudi's nightjar

Taxonomy

Tschudi's nightjar was formally described as Caprimulgus decussatus in 1844 by the Swiss naturalist Johann Jakob von Tschudi based on a specimen collected in Peru. The specific epithet is Latin meaning "marked with crosses", from decussis meaning "ten" (X in Roman numerals).

Tschudi's nightjar has a complicated taxonomic history. It was originally considered a species, then a subspecies of band-winged nightjar (Systellura longirostris). Tschudi's nightjar was therefore moved to new monotypic genus, Quechuavis, that had been proposed in 2023 by Thiago Costa and coworkers. The genus name is a combination of Quechua, an indigenous people of South America, and the Latin avis meaning bird. The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.

Description

Tschudi's nightjar is 20 to long. Males weigh 28.5 to and females about 32 g. It is overall grayish brown with blackish speckles. The male has a broad tawny or cinnamon collar on the hindneck, a small white patch on the throat, white bands on the wing, and white bands and tips on the tail. The female's throat is buff, the bands on the wing are buff, and the tail usually has no white.

Distribution and habitat

Tschudi's nightjar is found along most of western Peru and extreme northern Chile. It inhabits the littoral and foothills in this arid landscape. It generally keeps to open country, clearings, and wooded edges though it is also found in urban areas including Lima, Peru. In Peru it ranges from sea level to 1300 m but has been reported as high as 3350 m in Chile.

Behavior

Feeding

Nothing is known about Tschudi's nightjar's diet or feeding behavior.

Breeding

The breeding season of Tschudi's nightjar is thought to be from November or earlier to January. Essentially nothing else is known about its breeding biology.

Vocalization

Tschudi's nightjar's song is "a loud series of well-defined, but slightly buzzy 'cueeo' notes". Its alarm call is "a slightly squeaky-sounding 'wick'".

Status

The IUCN has assessed Tschudi's nightjar as being of Least Concern. It has a range estimated at 472000 km2, and though its population has not been quantified it is thought to be stable.

References

References

1. BirdLife International. (2024). "Lesser Band-winged Nightjar ''Systellura decussata''".
2. HBW and BirdLife International (2024). Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 8.1. Available at: https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/taxonomy retrieved August 26, 2024
3. (August 2024). "IOC World Bird List (v 14.2)".
4. Tschudi, Johann Jakob von. (1844). "Avium conspectus quae in Republica Peruana reperiuntur et pleraeque observatae vel collectae sunt in itinere". Archiv für Naturgeschichte.
5. (1940). "Check-List of Birds of the World". Harvard University Press.
6. Jobling, James A.. "decussatus". Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
7. (2014). "Deciphering the diversity and history of New World nightjars (Aves: Caprimulgidae) using molecular phylogenetics". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.
8. (2023). "Systematic revision and generic classification of a clade of New World nightjars (Caprimulgidae), with descriptions of new genera from South America". Avian Systematics.
9. AviList Core Team. (2025). "AviList: The Global Avian Checklist, v2025".
10. del Hoyo, J., N. Collar, and G. M. Kirwan (2024). Tschudi's Nightjar (''Quechuavis decussata''), version 1.1. 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.bawnig3.01.1 retrieved December 3, 2024