Rufous-bellied Nighthawk

Rufous-bellied Nighthawk

Lurocalis rufiventris

Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
at Los Nevados National Natural Park

In 3 days <5%

39 Verified sightings at Los Nevados National Natural Park From 2019 to 2026
39 In 1 park
December Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Rufous-bellied Nighthawk

The rufous-bellied nighthawk (Lurocalis rufiventris), sometimes also Taczanowski's nighthawk, is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. The rufous-bellied nighthawk was described as a species, later was treated as a subspecies of short-tailed nighthawk (Lurocalis semitorquatus), but since at least the late 1990s has been again accepted as a species in its own right. It is monotypic.

The rufous-bellied nighthawk is 23 to 25 cm (9.1 to 9.8 in) long. Its uppersides and wings are dark brown with rufous and buff spots and speckles. The tail is brown with tawny or grayish brown bars and a pale tip. The chin is dark brown, the throat white, the breast dark brown, and the belly and flanks tawny buff.

The rufous-bellied nighthawk is found in the Andes of western Venezuela, the eastern and central Andes of Colombia, the west side of much of the Ecuadoran Andes, and the east side of the Andes through Ecuador and Peru into Bolivia. It inhabits humid montane cloudforest, in at least Ecuador and Peru at elevations between 1,500 and 3,450 m (4... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Song0:39

Ecuador · 2007

© Mitch Lysinger · XC260440 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Flapping (bird flying)0:04

Ecuador · 2011

© Manuel Sanchez · XC73042 · CC BY-NC-ND 2.5

Call0:15

Ecuador · 1991

© Niels Krabbe · XC238686 · CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Los Nevados National Natural Park 🇨🇴 Colombia
<5%

More parks will be added in future updates.

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Rufous-bellied Nighthawk in Los Nevados National Natural Park?

Rare

Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Rufous-bellied Nighthawk sighting in Los Nevados National Natural Park on a given day, based on 39 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 315th most-seen of the 424 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Rufous-bellied Nighthawk in Los Nevados National Natural Park?

Any time of year

In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Rufous-bellied Nighthawk in Los Nevados National Natural Park on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.

What time of day is best to see a Rufous-bellied Nighthawk?

Between 7 and 10 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Rufous-bellied Nighthawk sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Where else can you see a Rufous-bellied Nighthawk?

Only Los Nevados National Natural Park, in our data

Los Nevados National Natural Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Rufous-bellied Nighthawk sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.

Where does the Rufous-bellied Nighthawk sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Rufous-bellied Nighthawk is recorded against all the birds logged in Los Nevados National Natural Park (39 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.

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