Sand-colored Nighthawk

SCI Name:  Chordeiles rupestris
Protonym:  Caprimulgus rupestris Av.Sp.Nov.Brasil. 2 p.2 pl.2
Taxonomy:  Caprimulgiformes / Caprimulgidae / Chordeiles
Taxonomy Code:  sacnig1
Type Locality:  Rocky islands in the Rio Negro, Brazil.
Author:  von Spix
Publish Year:  1825
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.

rupestris
Mod. L. rupestris  rock-dwelling, montane  < L. rupes, rupis  rock  < rumpere  to shatter.
● ex “Rock Grous” of Pennant 1784 (subsp. Lagopus muta).
● ex “Rocar” of Levaillant 1802, pl. 101 < French roc or rocher rock (Monticola).

SUBSPECIES

Sand-colored Nighthawk (xyostictus)
SCI Name: Chordeiles rupestris xyostictus
xyostictus
Gr. ξυω xuō  to scratch, to scrape; στικτος stiktos  spotted  < στιζω stizō  to tattoo.

Sand-colored Nighthawk (rupestris)
SCI Name: Chordeiles rupestris rupestris
rupestris
Mod. L. rupestris  rock-dwelling, montane  < L. rupes, rupis  rock  < rumpere  to shatter.
● ex “Rock Grous” of Pennant 1784 (subsp. Lagopus muta).
● ex “Rocar” of Levaillant 1802, pl. 101 < French roc or rocher rock (Monticola).