Short-tailed Nighthawk

How to find it

Plan to be outside at dawn or dusk, when it is usually seen over humid lowland forest. Watch the sky above clearings, rivers and forest edges, and listen as the light fades, because its loud calls at dusk often reveal it before you see it. One birder saw one at nightfall right at the start of an entrance road, and a 2023 trip report describes one flying around at dawn on the road near the La Selva main entrance. After dark, headlights can make its eyes glow red when it sits on tracks or roads. Patience helps: one tour group at La Selva needed some before getting great looks.

How to recognise it

Start with the shape, which is the most useful clue.

A very short, square tail. Fairly long, somewhat pointed wings. At rest, wings that reach well past the tail.

Then the colours. The upperparts are blackish with rufous speckles. The throat is white, and the rest of the underparts are dark brown barred with black. The wings have no white band.

That last point is a real clue. Unlike most other nightjars and nighthawks, it has no white marks on the wings or tail, so a dark, plain-winged silhouette against the dusk sky is a good sign.

What it sounds like

Recording: Ben Costamagna, CC BY 4.0, source, read 4 Nov 2026.

Behaviour and diet

By day it roosts high in forest trees, and its camouflage makes it very hard to see while it sleeps. It is unusual among nightjars because it nests on a horizontal limb in the canopy and lays a single egg.

It eats moths, beetles, bugs and other insects. It lives alone or in pairs, and sometimes in small groups. In flight it looks like a bat, with an erratic flight, a short tail and dark colour.

Where it lives

It is usually seen over humid lowland forest, and it keeps close to the trees even when it visits clearings and rivers.

In Costa Rica it has been recorded on the Caribbean side: the Sarapiquí lowlands in Heredia Province, Tortuguero National Park on the coast, Braulio Carrillo National Park on the slope north of San José, and the Turrialba area in the foothills, where the municipal bird list includes it as a resident.

Similar birds

The Lesser Nighthawk is the species to separate it from. The Lesser has a white band across the outer primaries and, in males, a white tail band. The Short-tailed has no white band across the wing and a very short square tail. Its bat-like, erratic flight also sets it apart from most nightjars and nighthawks.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

In Costa Rica it is called Añapero Colicorto. Other Spanish-speaking countries use different names, such as Pucuyo colicorto in Honduras, Chotacabras cola corta in Mexico, and Añapero castaño in Argentina and Paraguay.

Status and conservation

The official Costa Rican bird list gives it the status R, a resident species present in the country all year.

Photography tips

Its camouflage makes it very hard to see by day when it sleeps, so dusk is the better chance. At night, car headlights can show its eyes glowing red as it sits on tracks or roads.