A Reconsideration of Some Caprimulgids on Trinidad and Tobago

Abstract

The Caprimulgidae, including the sub-groups nighthawks and nightjars, are difficult birds to study, largely because they are nocturnal or, in some cases, crepuscular. In addition, their mottled, cryptically patterned plumage creates problems of identification for many observers, especially in dim light. The six (or seven) species known to occur on Trinidad and/or Tobago (ffrench 1991) include some for which details of status and distribution are far from clear. In this paper I am outlining some of the problems, in the hope that future observers may succeed in unravelling them.