Which bird family includes the common poorwill, noted for extended torpor?

The common poorwill belongs to the bird family Caprimulgidae, the nightjars. Its scientific name is Phalaenoptilus nuttallii, and it is one of the family’s most unusual members because it can enter extended torpor for weeks or months.

Caprimulgids are primarily nocturnal or crepuscular insect-eaters. Their cryptic gray-brown plumage helps them disappear against soil, rocks, and leaf litter, while their broad mouths are suited to catching moths, beetles, grasshoppers, and other flying insects. The common poorwill is the smallest North American nightjar, measuring about 18 centimeters long.

The family name can cause confusion because “poorwill” sounds like a close relative of the whip-poor-will, but both are nightjars rather than owls or hawks. The common poorwill was formally described by John James Audubon in 1844 and moved into its own genus by Robert Ridgway in 1880. Its extended torpor is exceptional even within Caprimulgidae, where shorter daily torpor occurs in some other species.