Ladder-tailed nightjar facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Ladder-tailed nightjar |
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Hydropsalis
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climacocerca
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The ladder-tailed nightjar (Hydropsalis climacocerca) is a cool bird from the nightjar family. Nightjars are known for being active at night. This bird gets its name from its unique tail, which looks a bit like a ladder!
You can find the ladder-tailed nightjar in the Amazon Basin in Brazil. It also lives in countries like Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Venezuela.
These birds love places with lots of plants, like moist shrubland. They also live near rivers and freshwater lakes.
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Amazing Camouflage
The ladder-tailed nightjar is a master of camouflage. This means its colors help it blend in perfectly with its surroundings. It looks just like the ground!
Its feathers have patches of white, different shades of gray, and some brown. This coloring helps it hide from animals that might want to eat it. It's super hard to spot when it's resting during the day.
Clever Tricks to Stay Safe
Many nightjars, including this one, use a trick called a "distraction display." If a predator (like a fox or a snake) gets too close to their nest, eggs, or young birds, the parent bird will pretend to be hurt.
It might flop around on the ground, acting like an easy target. This makes the predator follow the parent bird away from the nest. Once the nest is safe, the parent bird suddenly flies away, perfectly fine!
Night Hunter
The ladder-tailed nightjar is a nocturnal bird, meaning it hunts at night. It has very large eyes that help it see well in the dark.
It also has a wide mouth. This big mouth is perfect for catching flying insects in mid-air. It's like a living net for bugs!
Where They Live
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The ladder-tailed nightjar lives all over the Amazon basin. You can also find it in the northeast, in a region called the Guiana Shield and the countries known as the Guianas. However, it does not live east of the Amazon River's mouth, near Ilha de Marajo.
In the western part of its range, the bird lives close to the Andes mountains. To the north, its home extends into southeastern Venezuela. It also lives in the upper part of the Orinoco River basin.
Family in South America
In the southern Amazon Basin, the ladder-tailed nightjar's territory overlaps with its close relative, the scissor-tailed nightjar. The scissor-tailed nightjar lives in southeastern Brazil and goes all the way down to Argentina.
Together, these two types of nightjars cover almost all of South America east of the Andes mountains. They live from central Argentina up to the Caribbean Sea coast.
