ML288846191
Contributor
Date
Location
- Age and sex
- Immature Unknown sex - 1
Media notes
Undertail pattern indicates a young (hatch year) bird
Observation details
A note that this bird was on private property and the location of this list is not where the bird was found (just indicates that it was in Bolinas). Out of respect for the property owner and the welfare of a roosting bird, we did not alert the wider birding community at the time. Also, with the increase in COVID infections, we felt it irresponsible to invite birders from outside of the county to the small community of Bolinas. I checked the perch and same area the next morning and did not refind the bird. Below is some information from the CBRC write-up that I will submit. Description: The bird was seen perched on a branch about 2ft off the ground in a hedgerow of some unidentified non-native shrub. From the south side of the hedgerow, it was out in the open and gave great views as it roosted in the sun all day. It stayed in the same location all day, only making slight shifts in its position. It sat mostly upright, and at times with its head tilted up reminiscent of the classic potoo roosting position. A few times it opened its eye a small amount, but mostly had its eye shut. It had a small bill with a large gape line, large rictal bristles, and a large eye. The head was big in relation to the body. The body was larger around the chest and narrowed toward the tail. The wings were long and reached nearly to the tip of the tail. The tail was longish in relation to the body. The feet and legs were mostly hidden by the body feathers. A few glimpses of the feet revealed they were small and delicate. It was on the larger side, maybe the size of a flicker with much different proportions. The plumage was overall very cryptic, made up of shades of gray, brown, rufous, and black, but had an overall buffy or cinnamon tone. Crown was brownish gray with fine black streaks that covered it evenly (i.e. not concentrated in the center). Feathering was paler along the gape line. It had a distinctly white, narrow forecollar with some more concentrated black feathering below that onto the chest. The collar did not extend around the back of the neck. The nape was streaked and didn’t notably contrast with the back. On the side of the bird there were two noticeable pale gray bars, one on the lesser coverts and one on the scapulars. The primaries were barred black and rufous, without any white patches. Underside of the tail was cinnamon mottled with black, with slightly more cinnamon at the tips. The overall shape, proportions, and bill size clearly indicate that this bird is a nightjar. The bird’s size, crown pattern, wing pattern, tail length, and wing length all point to Chuck-will’s-widow. From the Pyle guide, the tail patterns seems to indicate a hatch-year bird of unknown sex. An adult female would have larger cinnamon tips and an adult male would have large white patches on the outer rects. Similar species: Nighthawks - all species of North American nighthawks have black primaries with a distinct white patch (usually visible on roosting birds). This bird had rufous and black barred primaries and no white patch. Nighthawks have a proportionally smaller head than this bird, which had a very large flat head. Common Poorwill - This species is much smaller, has a more uniform crown without obvious black streaks, a shorter tail, and lacks overall buffy tone. Undertail pattern is dark with whitish tips. Usually roosts on ground and not up in vegetation. This species is the most common nightjar in the area (especially in winter), but characteristics show our bird wasn’t this species. Buff-collared Nightjar - This species is much smaller (more like the size of Common Poorwill) and shows a complete buffy collar. Our bird had a white forecollar and no collar on the nape. Common Pauraque - This species is closer in size to our bird, but the tail is much longer. The undertail pattern shows lots of white at any age. Primaries are more solidly colored, and not barred like our bird. More often roosts on the ground. Eastern/Mexican Whip-poor-will - These species are a little smaller and seem to have a proportionally smaller head than Chuck-will’s-widow. The Sibley guide points to the crown having a “bold- dark median crown-stripe” and not the fine, dispersed black streaks of our bird. According to the Pyle guide, the rects of whip-poor-wills will show either extensive white or buffy tips and no mottling pattern. Our bird has heavily mottled rects without white patches. While the Sibley and Pyle guides both say Chuck-will’s-widows lack a white throat collar (and the whip-poor-wills have one), a review of photos on eBird show many examples of Chuck-will’s-widows with a white throat collar. The pale braces seen on our bird appear to be more common on whip-poor-wills, but within the variation seen in Chuck-will’s-widows. Tawny-collared or Yucatan Nightjar - These would be exceptional, but worth a quick consideration. Both are smaller than Chuck-will’s-widow and have obvious tawny/cinnamon hind collars. Also it seems the tail pattern even in hatch-year birds would show clean white or buffy corners. Eurasian Nightjar - Another very unlikely species. Seems like this species is much grayer overall than Chuck-will’s-widow (and our bird). From eBird photos it seems like they always have a bold white malar (or gape line?) and our bird only has a hint of a pale gape line. Also has a bold white bar in the lesser coverts, but our bird has a more subtle pale gray bar.
Technical information
- Dimensions
- 2871 pixels x 1880 pixels
- Original file size
- 3.87 MB