I’ll admit I was crushed when Nathan wrote a feature for xeno-canto before I did.  I have no one to blame but myself; it was pure laziness on my part that kept me from doing one.  After I got over the bruised ego from him being first I got my act in gear and wrote one of my own.  So if you want to read about the vocal variation in Band-winged Nightjars, check out my first xeno-canto feature.

Like Flycatchers and other suboscine passerines, Nightjars don’t learn their voices.  So distinct vocal variations may well have taxonomic implications.  In Band-winged Nightjar in particular there seems to be a good case for further study,  and potentially splitting the species.   For example, note how the differences in Whip-poor-will vocalizations recently played a role in the split of that species.

Finally, if any of you have recordings of Band-winged Nightjars you could upload to XC, especially of the decussatus, roraimae, or patagonicus subspecies that would be of great help!