Antrostomus
Antrostomus is a genus of nightjars formerly included in the genus Caprimulgus. They are medium-sized nocturnal birds with long pointed wings, short legs and short bills.
Antrostomus nightjars are found in the New World, and like other nightjars they usually nest on the ground. They are mostly active in the late evening and early morning or at night, and feed predominantly on moths and other large flying insects. Most have small feet, of little use for walking, and their soft plumage is cryptically coloured to resemble bark or leaves. They have relatively long bills and rictal bristles. Some species, unusually for birds, perch along a branch, rather than across it, which helps to conceal them during the day. Temperate species are strongly migratory, wintering in the tropics. Many have repetitive and often mechanical songs.
Taxonomy
These species were formerly placed in the genus Caprimulgus but were moved to the resurrected genus Antrostomus based on the results of a molecular phylogenetic study published in 2010. The genus Antrostomus was erected by the French naturalist Charles Bonaparte in 1838 with the chuck-will's-widow as the type species. The generic name combines the Ancient Greek antron meaning "cavern" and stoma meaning "mouth".Species
The genus contains 12 species:| Image | Scientific name | Common name | Distribution |
| Antrostumus carolinensis | Chuck-will's-widow | southeastern US; winters to Central and northwestern South America | |
| Antrostumus rufus | Rufous nightjar | sparsely across South America | |
| - | Antrostumus cubanensis | Cuban nightjar | Cuba |
| - | Antrostumus ekmani | Hispaniolan nightjar | Hispaniola |
| Antrostumus salvini | Tawny-collared nightjar | eastern Mexico | |
| - | Antrostumus badius | Yucatan nightjar | Yucatan peninsula |
| Antrostumus sericocaudatus | Silky-tailed Nightjar | mainly southern Atlantic forest | |
| - | Antrostumus ridgwayi | Buff-collared nightjar | southeastern Arizona to Nicaragua |
| Antrostumus vociferus | Eastern whip-poor-will | eastern North America; winters to Florida and Central America | |
| Antrostumus arizonae | Mexican whip-poor-will | southwestern US and montane Mesoamerica | |
| Antrostumus noctitherus | Puerto Rican nightjar | Puerto Rico | |
| Antrostumus saturatus | Dusky nightjar | Talamancan montane forests |