 the caprimulgiformes is an order of birds that includes a number of birds with global distribution (except antarctica). they are generally insectivorous and nocturnal. the order gets its name from the latin for "goat-sucker", an old name based on an erroneous view of the european nightjar's feeding habits. ==systematics== the classification of the various birds that make up the order has long been controversial and difficult, particularly in the case of the nightjars. all things considered, the nightjar order would probably best be limited to potoos, nightjars, and eared-nightjars, all other lineages being elevated to order level, and the owlet-nightjars being altogether distant: * family steatornithidae (oilbird) â probably distinct order n.n. ("steatornithiformes" apparently not a valid taxon (yet), and thus it must not be written without quotation marks.) * family podargidae (frogmouths, 15 species in 3 genera) â probably distinct order podargiformes * family nyctibiidae (potoos, about 5 species in 1 genus) * family caprimulgidae ** subfamily chordeilinae (new world nighthawks) ** subfamily caprimulginae (typical nightjars) * family eurostopodidae (eared nightjars) traditionally, they were regarded, on morphological grounds, as being midway between the owls (strigiformes) and the swifts. like the owls, they are nocturnal hunters with a highly developed sense of sight, and like the swifts they are excellent flyers with small, weak legs. at one time or another, they have been allied with owls, swifts, kingfishers, hoopoes, mousebirds, hornbills, rollers, bee-eaters, woodpeckers, trogons and hummingbirds. based on analysis of dna sequence data â notably Î²-fibrinogen intron 7 â fain and houde considered the families of the caprimulgiformes to be members of the proposed clade metaves, which also includes the hoatzin, tropicbirds, sandgrouse, pigeons, kagu, sunbittern, mesites, flamingos, grebes and swifts and hummingbirds. this clade was also found by the expanded study of ericson et al. (2006), but support was extremely weak. while only the latter study recovered monophyly of the cypselomorphae (see below) wit
Bird_orders Caprimulgiformes