Cotinga 32 Short Communications Spot-tailed Nightjar Caprimulgus maculicaudus nesting in French Guiana Spot-tailed Nightjar Caprimulgus maculicaudus is found discontinuously from south-east Mexico to south-east Brazil1. It occurs mainly in savannas and marshes with scattered thickets and trees, but also in bushy pastures, grassy clearings in woodland, forest edges and recently burnt areas2,3,5. Its natural history is poorly known7. C. maculicaudus is common in savannas, marshes and ricefields in coastal French Guiana9. There are no reports from the forested interior. 161 Cotinga32-100615.indd 161 6/15/2010 9:28:27 AM Cotinga 32 Short Communications In Mexico and Surinam, this of the birds of the world, 5. nightjar prefers bare ground in Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. burnt areas to lay its eggs4,10. 4. Haverschmidt, F. & Mees, G. Clutch size is reportedly two2,3. F. (1994) Birds of Suriname. Holyoak5 stated that full clutches Paramaribo: VACO. apparently comprise two eggs, 5. Holyoak, D. T. (2001) but it is uncertain if some reports Nightjars and their allies. of single eggs refer to one-egg The Caprimulgiformes. clutches or incomplete clutches. Oxford: Oxford University In Surinam, of four clutches, two Press. were of one egg and two of two 6. Ingels, J. (1975) Notes on Figure 1. Spot-tailed Nightjar eggs4. Tostain et al.9 mentioned a the Pauraque Nyctidromus Caprimulgus maculicaudus chick, near female with two fledged juveniles albicollis in French Guiana. Mana, French Guiana, September 2009 near Kaw. Although a sample of Bull. Brit. Orn. Club 95: (Sylvian Uriot) eight clutches for Mexico, Surinam 115–116. and French Guiana is small, we 7. Restall, R., Rodner, C. & This nightjar is very common believe that complete clutches of Lentino, M. (2006) Birds of along road D22 between Mana one and two eggs are possible. This northern South America. and Awala-Yalimapo and towards phenomenon is also observed in London, UK: Christopher the settlement Les Hattes, in Pauraque Nyctidromus albicollis Helm. north-west French Guiana. In for which one-egg clutches are 8. Ribot, J. H. (2009) Birds of the dry season, the low weedy known in Surinam, French Suriname, South America. vegetation on both sides of the Guiana and northern Brazil, and http://www1.nhl.nl/~ribot/ road and under a high-voltage two-egg clutches elsewhere in its (accessed 25 November line on one side is regularly range2,3,5,6. In French Guiana and 2009). burnt. On 27–30 September Surinam, with similar rainfall 9. Tostain, O., Dujardin, J.-L., 2009, along a stretch of c.15 km patterns, all nests have been in Érard, C. & Thiollay, J.-M. of the D22, we counted 20–30 C. September–December, i.e., the (1992) Oiseaux de Guyane. maculicaudus. Near midnight dry and early rainy season4,8,9, Brunoy: Société Études des on 27 September, SU trapped an unsurprising for a ground-nesting Ornithologiques. adult male using a butterfly net. caprimulgid. 10. Zimmerman, D. A. (1957) The bird was brooding a chick, Spotted-tailed Nightjar c.2–3 days old (Fig. 1). The nest Acknowledgements nesting in Veracruz, Mexico. was on bare ground, c.1.5 m from We thank Michel Giraud-Audine, Condor 59: 124–127. the road, which had been burnt Vincent Pelletier, Kévin Pineau, c.3–4 weeks earlier. The egg must Alex Renaudier and Alexandre Johan Ingels have been laid shortly thereafter, Vinot for data concerning Galgenberglaan 9, B-9070 as the incubation period for Spot-tailed Nightjar in French Destelbergen, Belgium. E-mail: small caprimulgids is estimated Guiana, and Nigel Cleere who [email protected]. 2,5 provided useful comments on at 2–3 weeks . The chick was Sylvain Uriot this note. We are grateful to the covered with blackish down, PK 7, route de Stoupan, F-97351 Groupe d’Étude et de Protection with brownish-buff markings. Matoury, France. E-mail: des Oiseaux en Guyane for data The underparts were pale dusky [email protected]. marked buffy brown, except from their database, to Frederik for the pale, buffy-brown belly. Brammer and Manuel Plenge for Jean-Luc Sibille The bill was dark horn, the feet relevant literature, and to Guy PK 7.5, route de Stoupan, F-97351 greyish and the irides dark. This Kirwan for editing the manuscript. Matoury, France. E-mail: sibille. description agrees with that of a [email protected]. chick found in 1956 in Veracruz, References Mexico10. It blended very well with 1. Blake, E. R. (1944) Received 1 December 2009; final its surroundings. On 8 November Distribution and variation of revision accepted 25 March 2010 2009, a pair of Spot-tailed Caprimulgus maculicaudus. Nightjars with a fledged juvenile Fieldiana Zool. 31: 207–213. was flushed on the Pointe Isère, 2. Cleere, N. (1998) Nightjars: a on the right bank of the Mana guide to nightjars and related River opposite Awala-Yalimapo nightbirds. Robertsbridge: (E. Weissenbacher, J. Hahn & M. Pica Press. Maussin pers. comm.). 3. Cleere, N. (1999) Family Little is known about the Caprimulgidae (nightjars). breeding biology of Spot-tailed In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. & Nightjar. The chick we found Sargatal, J. (eds.) Handbook was the first for French Guiana. 162 Cotinga32-100615.indd 162 6/15/2010 9:28:27 AM.