Lesser Nighthawk

SCI Name:  Chordeiles acutipennis
Protonym:  Caprimulgus acutipennis TabulaAffin.Anim. p.230
Taxonomy:  Caprimulgiformes / Caprimulgidae / Chordeiles
Taxonomy Code:  lesnig
Type Locality:  Cayenne.
Author:  Hermann
Publish Year:  1783
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

CHORDEILES
(Caprimulgidae; Ϯ Common Nighthawk C. minor) Gr. χορδη khordē  chord; δειλη deilē  evening (cf. “Apparently a badly coined name from Gr. khōreo, to travel, and deilē, in the unusual sense of “evening” ” (Macleod 1954); “Gr. choros, most likely “a circular dance” hence “a moving about”; Gr. deile, “evening” ” (Choate 1985)); "2. CAPRIMULGUS (CHORDEILES) VIRGINIANUS. (Sw.)  The Pisk.  ...  Sub-genus, Chordeiles*, Sw.  ...  Peesquaw.  CREE INDIANS.  ...  The very peculiar noise it makes is most frequently heard in the evening, and often seems to be emitted close to the listener, although the bird which produces it is at the time so high in the air as to be nearly imperceptible. The sound resembles that produced by the vibration of a tense, thick cord in a violent gust of wind.   ...   * Chorda crepusculi (Th. χορδη et δειλη): in allusion to the peculiar sound it makes.   ...   44. Sub-genus, CHORDEILES.  (Generis Caprimulgi.)  Rostrum Caprimulgi.  Rictus lævis.  Alæ caudam æquantes; remiges omnes intergerrimæ.  Cauda forficata.  Digitus externus interno brevior.  Unguis medius serratus.  Type.—Chordeiles Virginianus (Caprimulgus Americanus, WILS.)" (Swainson 1832); "Chordeiles Swainson, in Swainson and Richardson's Fauna Bor.-Am., 2, 1831 (1832), p. 496. Type, by original designation, Caprimulgus virginianus Gmelin = Caprimulgus minor J. R. Forster." (Peters, 1940, IV, p. 185).
Var. Chordelies, Chordiles, Chordediles, Chordedilus, Chordeilus.
Synon. Microrhynchus, Nannochordeiles, Podager, Proithera, Ramphaoratus.

acutipennis
L. acutus  sharp-pointed  < acuere  to sharpen to a point; -pennis  -winged  < penna  feather.
● ex “Engoulevent acutipenne de la Guyane” of de Buffon 1770-1783 (Chordeiles).
● ex “Figuier à Cuti-Pennes” of Levaillant 1803, pl. 133 (unident.).

SUBSPECIES

Lesser Nighthawk (texensis)
SCI Name: Chordeiles acutipennis texensis
texana / texanus / texensis
Texas, USA.
● Erroneous TL. Republic of Texas (= Veracruz, Mexico) (Myiozetetes).

Lesser Nighthawk (micromeris)
SCI Name: Chordeiles acutipennis micromeris
micromeris
Gr. μικρος mikros small; μερις meris part, portion (cf. μικρομερης mikromerēs of small parts, to a slight extent).

Lesser Nighthawk (littoralis)
SCI Name: Chordeiles acutipennis littoralis
littorale / littoralis
L. litoralis  littoral, of the shore  < litus, litoris  shore, beach.

Lesser Nighthawk (acutipennis)
SCI Name: Chordeiles acutipennis acutipennis
acutipennis
L. acutus  sharp-pointed  < acuere  to sharpen to a point; -pennis  -winged  < penna  feather.
● ex “Engoulevent acutipenne de la Guyane” of de Buffon 1770-1783 (Chordeiles).
● ex “Figuier à Cuti-Pennes” of Levaillant 1803, pl. 133 (unident.).

Lesser Nighthawk (crissalis)
SCI Name: Chordeiles acutipennis crissalis
crissale / crissalis
Mod. L. crissalis  crissal, of the vent  < crissum  vent, lower tail-coverts  < L. crissare  to copulate, “used of a certain motion of the haunches” (Coues 1882).

Lesser Nighthawk (aequatorialis)
SCI Name: Chordeiles acutipennis aequatorialis
aequatoriale / aequatorialis
Late L. aequatorialis  equatorial  < aequator  equator  < L. aequare  to make equal  < aequus  equal. Frequently given to species with a distribution in the equatorial latitudes of Africa (e.g. subsp. Jynx ruficollis, Sheppardia), but more commonly applied to birds from Ecuador (Spanish ecuador  equator) (e.g. Momotus, Thamnistes, Xiphorhynchus).
● Erroneous TL. Guayaquil (= Panama City) (subsp. Dendroica petechia).
● Erroneous TL. Guayaquil (= interior of Ecuador) (subsp. Falco sparverius).
● Erroneous TL. Ecuador (= Bahia, Brazil) (syn. Heliothryx aurita auriculata).
● Erroneous TL. Bogotá (= San Lucas, Ecuador) (subsp. Rallus limicola).

Lesser Nighthawk (exilis)
SCI Name: Chordeiles acutipennis exilis
exilis
L. exilis  small, slender, thin  < ex  without; ile, ilis  intestines.
● ex “Minute Bittern” (= ♀) and “Mexican Bittern” of Latham 1785 (Ixobrychus).
● ex “Hummingbird of a black colour” of Bancroft 1769, and “Little Humming Bird” of Latham 1782 (subsp. Orthorhyncus cristatus).