Long-tailed Nightjar

SCI Name:  Caprimulgus climacurus
Protonym:  Caprimulgus climacurus Gal.Ois. 1 p.195 pl.122
Taxonomy:  Caprimulgiformes / Caprimulgidae / Caprimulgus
Taxonomy Code:  lotnig1
Type Locality:  Senegal.
Author:  Vieillot
Publish Year:  1824
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

CAPRIMULGUS
(Caprimulgidae; Ϯ European Nightjar C. europaeus) L. caprimulgus  nightjar  < capra  nanny-goat  < caper, capri  billy-goat; mulgere  to milk; “Those called goat-suckers  ...  enter the shepherds’ stalls and fly to the goats’ udders in order to suck their milk, which injures the udder and makes it perish, and the goats they have milked in this way gradually go blind” (Pliny X, lvi (ed. Rackham 1983)); this unfounded rustic superstition was for long associated with the European Nightjar; "NIGHT-HAWK (C. popetue). I have noticed, when skinning this bird, that the male, in spring, exhales a strong hircine odor.  If this is common to all birds of the family, it may have added apparent reason to the superstition from which the family name is derived." (Coues 1874); "102. CAPRIMULGUS.  Rostrum incurvum, minimum, subulatum, basi depressum.  Vibrissæ ad os serie ciliari.  Rictus amplissimus.   ...   Caprimulgus genere differt ab Hirundine, uti Strix a Falcone, Phalæna a Papilione." (Linnaeus 1758); "Caprimulgus Linné, Syst. Nat., ed. 10, 1, 1758, p. 193. Type, by tautonymy, Caprimulgus europaeus Linné (Caprimulgus, pre-binomial specific name in synonymy." (Peters, 1940, IV, p. 196). Linnaeus's Caprimulgus, the final avian genus listed in his historic ground-breaking work, comprised two species (C. europæus, C. americanus). 
Synon. Allasma, Capripeda, Climacurus, Cosmetornis, Creapyga, Crotema, Diaphorasma, Eximiornis, Hypsiphornis, Macrodipteryx, Nyctichelidon, Nycticircus, Nyctitypus, Nyctipornis, Nyctisyrigmus, Nyctivociferator, Phalaenivora, Rossornis, Scotornis, Semeiophorus, Stelidopterus, Vociferator.

caprimulgus
L. caprimulgus  nightjar  < capra  nanny-goat  < caper, capri  billy-goat; mulgere  to milk (cf. Gr. αιγοθηλας aigothēlas  goatsucker).

climacurus / climazura
Gr. κλιμαξ klimax, κλιμακος klimakos  ladder; -ουρος -ouros  -tailed  < ουρα oura  tail.
● French name “Engoulevent climacure” given to the Long-tailed Nightjar by Vieillot 1825, from the ladder-like appearance of the black-barred central tail-feathers (Caprimulgus).

Climacurus
(Caprimulgidae; syn. Caprimulgus Ϯ Long-tailed Nightjar C. climacurus) Gr. κλιμαξ klimax, κλιμακος klimakos  ladder; ουρα oura  tail (cf. specific name Caprimulgus climacurus Vieillot, 1825); "Eine, oder zwei andere, afrikanische Arten (Climacurus) zeichnen sich vor allen schwalbenähnlichen Vögeln dieser und der vorigen Ordnung durch ihren zugespitzten und auffallend stark abgestusten Schwanz aus. Sie nähern sich aber hierdurch manchen Fliegenfängern" (Gloger 1842); "Climacurus Gloger, 1842, Gemein. Hand- und Hilfsbuch Naturgesch., p. 356.  Type, by tautonymy, Caprimulgus climacurus Vieillot, 1825." (JAJ 2021).

SUBSPECIES

Long-tailed Nightjar (climacurus)
SCI Name: Caprimulgus climacurus climacurus
climacurus / climazura
Gr. κλιμαξ klimax, κλιμακος klimakos  ladder; -ουρος -ouros  -tailed  < ουρα oura  tail.
● French name “Engoulevent climacure” given to the Long-tailed Nightjar by Vieillot 1825, from the ladder-like appearance of the black-barred central tail-feathers (Caprimulgus).

Long-tailed Nightjar (sclateri)
SCI Name: Caprimulgus climacurus sclateri
sclateri
● Dr Philip Lutley Sclater (1829-1913) English ornithologist, collector (subsp. Apalis cinerea, subsp. Asthenes wyatti, subsp. Attila spadiceus, Cacicus, syn. Campephilus gayaquilensis, subsp. Camptostoma obsoletum, syn. Casuarius casuarius, subsp. Cercomacra cinerascens, subsp. Chaetura cinereiventris, Chasiempis, subsp. Colinus leucopogon, syn. Crax fasciolata, syn. Cyanocorax affinis, Doliornis, Eudyptes, Euphonia (ex Bonaparte MS), subsp. Forpus modestus, subsp. Guttera verreauxi, syn. Heliomaster longirostris, subsp. Hirundinea ferruginea, subsp. Icterus pustulatus, Knipolegus, Lophophorus, Loriculus, subsp. Loxigilla noctis, Meliarchus, subsp. Monasa morphoeus, subsp. Myiarchus oberi, Myrmotherula, Myzomela, Nonnula, syn. Penelope barbata, subsp. Penelope montagnii, syn. Penelope obscura, Pheugopedius, Phyllomyias, Picumnus, syn. Pipreola chlorolepidota, syn. Plectropterus gambensis, Poecile, Pseudocolopteryx, syn. Rufirallus fasciatus, syn. Spinus magellanicus capitalis, subsp. Tachycineta euchrysea, subsp. Tangara aurulenta, syn. Tangara cabanisi, syn. Thamnophilus amazonicus, syn. Thraupis episcopus nesophilus, subsp. Thripadectes virgaticeps, subsp. Todirostrum cinereum, subsp. Tolmomyias poliocephalus, Vireo, subsp. Xiphocolaptes promeropirhynchus).
● William Lutley Sclater (1863-1944) English ornithologist (son of Dr Philip Lutley Sclater), Director of Cape Town Mus. 1896-1906 (syn. Apalis thoracica capensis, subsp. Caprimulgus climacurus, subsp. Cercotrichas leucophrys, syn. Chlidonias hybrida delalandii, syn. Cisticola galactotes amphilectus, subsp. Cyanomitra olivacea, subsp. Dendrocitta vagabunda, subsp. Monticola rufocinereus, subsp. Neomixis striatigula, syn. Ploceus bicolor stictifrons, Spizocorys, syn. Turtur afer).

Long-tailed Nightjar (nigricans)
SCI Name: Caprimulgus climacurus nigricans
nigricans
L. nigricans, nigricantis  blackish, swarthy  < nigrare  to be black  < niger  black.
● ex “Suirirí chorrendo” of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 182 (syn. Hymenops perspicillata).
● ex “Ypacahá obscuro” of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 371 (Pardirallus).
● ex “Brunoir” of Levaillant 1802, pl. 106, fig. 1 (Pycnonotus).
● ex “Tachurí obscurito menor” of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 167 (Ridgwayornis).