Hydropsalis torquata
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The scissor-tailed nightjar (Hydropsalis torquata) is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is distributed over much of eastern South America. The scissor-tailed nightjar was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with the other nightjars in the genus Caprimulgus and coined the binomial name Caprimulgus torquatus. The scissor-tailed nightjar is now placed with three other species in the genus Hydropsalis that was introduced in 1832 by the German naturalist Johann Georg Wagler. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek hudro- meaning "water-" with psalis meaning "pair of scissors". The specific epithet torquata is from Latin torquatus meaning "collared".
Two subspecies are recognised: The specific epithet brasiliana or brasilianus was formerly sometimes used. The most distinctive feature of the scissor-tailed nightjar is the male's elongated outer tail feathers... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | El Impenetrable National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 2 | El Palmar National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 3 | Serra da Canastra National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 4 | Chapada dos Guimarães National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 5 | Chapada Diamantina National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 6 | Iberá National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 7 | Serra dos Órgãos National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cordoba | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 2 | Buenos Aires | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 3 | São Paulo | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Scissor-tailed Nightjar sighting in Serra da Canastra National Park on a given day, based on 31 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 185th most-seen of the 294 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.
May
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Scissor-tailed Nightjar in Serra da Canastra National Park on a given day, against under 5% in April, July, September and November–February, the lowest months. That is one of Serra da Canastra National Park's driest months, with about 40 mm of rain against 280 mm in January.
Between 6 and 9 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Scissor-tailed Nightjar sightings with a recorded time, and about half of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is seen both by day and at night.
3rd of 7
Of the 7 parks where we can rate Scissor-tailed Nightjar sightings, Serra da Canastra National Park ranks 3rd at about 10%. The best odds are in El Impenetrable National Park (Argentina, about 20%) and El Palmar National Park (Argentina, about 10%).
Same family: Caprimulgidae
The closest relatives of the Scissor-tailed Nightjar that you can see in Serra da Canastra National Park (family Caprimulgidae, Nightjars and Allies) are Least Nighthawk (about 10%) 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 Scissor-tailed Nightjar is recorded against all the birds logged in Serra da Canastra National Park (31 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.
