| The
caprimulgidae include birds such as the nighthawk, Chuck-will’s-widow,
Poor-will and Whip-poor-will. They are the nightjar family. They
are commonly referred to as “goat suckers”. This odd name
springs from an old, old legend. Once, people really believed
that nightjars visited goats at night and drank their milk!
While it’s not unlikely that the birds may have been flying
above fields where goats were kept, they were really flying
through the sky “hawking” insects. Nightjars have tiny beaks
but when they open them, they expose huge, cavernous mouths.
They open their beaks as they fly through clouds of insects,
scooping enormous amounts of insects into their mouths. They can
eat more than 2000 insects in one feeding period!
Perhaps it’s the size
of those mouths that had people confused and made them think
that they were sucking milk from goats. Are we SURE they don’t
suck milk?
Well, to suck, you need
lips! Have you ever seen a nightjar with lips? Neither have we!
Read more about this fascinating species. |
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I
am a caprimulgidae , which means “goat sucker”, but I’m
not a kid!
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My
family name is nightjar. People call me that because of my
loud or “jarring” cry.
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My
nearest relative may well be the owl.
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I
have the biggest mouth you’ve ever seen!
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My
middle toe is called the feather toe.
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People
also call me bull-bat, mosquito hawk, pisk,
pork-and-beans, will-o’-the-wisp and poor-will.
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I
eat so many mosquitoes and other insects that I’m an
asset to any yard! |
Can you
guess who I am?
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