Hydropsalis climacocerca
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The ladder-tailed nightjar (Hydropsalis climacocerca) is a species of bird in the nightjar family Caprimulgidae. It is one of four species in the genus, Hydropsalis. It is found in the Amazon Basin of Brazil, the Guianas, Suriname, and also Amazonian Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia; it is also in Venezuela.
Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist shrubland, rivers, and freshwater lakes. This bird is highly camouflaged and has the colors of 'ground cover', as do most of the nightjars. The colors are broken with white patches, grays, both dark, and light, and some brown, especially around the neck and head. Many of the nightjar species also have the distraction display, which helps lead unwary predators farther distances from the nest, young, or eggs.
As a species that hunts airborne insects at night, it has large eyes and a large wide gape to allow this feeding strategy. The ladder-tailed nightjar was formally described in 1844 by the Swiss naturalist Johann Jakob von Tschudi under the binomial name Caprimulgus climacocercus based on a specimen collected in Peru. The specific epithet combines the Ancient Greek κλιμαξ/klimax, κλιμακος/klimakos meaning... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yasuní National Park | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 2 | Anavilhanas National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Manu National Park | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 4 | Tambopata National Reserve | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 5 | Amacayacu National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 6 | Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 7 | Sierra de la Macarena National Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Ladder-tailed Nightjar sighting in Anavilhanas National Park on a given day, based on 33 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 128th most-seen of the 291 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July and August
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Ladder-tailed Nightjar in Anavilhanas National Park on a given day, against under 5% in March, May and September–January, the lowest months. Those are among Anavilhanas National Park's driest months, with about 90 mm of rain a month against 340 mm in March.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Ladder-tailed Nightjar sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
Among the best
Of the 7 parks where we can rate Ladder-tailed Nightjar sightings, Anavilhanas National Park ranks 2nd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Yasuní National Park (Ecuador, about 10%).
Same family: Caprimulgidae
The closest relatives of the Ladder-tailed Nightjar that you can see in Anavilhanas National Park (family Caprimulgidae, Nightjars and Allies) are Band-tailed Nighthawk (about 20%) and Common Pauraque (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Ladder-tailed Nightjar is recorded against all the birds logged in Anavilhanas National Park (33 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
