Buff-necked Ibis vs Chuck-will's-widow

Theristicus caudatus compared with Antrostomus carolinensis

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Buff-necked Ibis	Chuck-will's-widow
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Chordata (Chordates)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class same	Aves (Birds)	Aves (Birds)
Order	Pelecaniformes (Pelecaniformes)	Caprimulgiformes (Caprimulgiformes)
Family	Threskiornithidae	Caprimulgidae
Genus	Theristicus	Antrostomus
Species	Theristicus caudatus	Antrostomus carolinensis

Evolutionary Relationship

Buff-necked Ibis and Chuck-will's-widow share a common ancestor at the Class level: Aves. (Birds)

Conservation Status

Buff-necked Ibis

LC — Least Concern

Chuck-will's-widow

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Buff-necked Ibis	Chuck-will's-widow
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Buff-necked Ibis

Habitat

Typically found in various aerial, terrestrial, and aquatic environments.

Range

Found across Europe (5 countries) and South America (Colombia, Venezuela).

Chuck-will's-widow

Habitat

Typically found in various aerial, terrestrial, and aquatic environments.

Range

Distributed across Colombia, Norway, and Venezuela.

Buff-necked Ibis

Buff-necked Ibis (Theristicus caudatus) is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List. Widespread and abundant across its range, with stable populations and no immediate conservation concerns.

Chuck-will's-widow

The Chuck-will's-widow (Antrostomus carolinensis) is the largest nightjar in North America, named for its distinctive far-carrying call — a resonant four-syllable whistle repeated persistently on warm nights. It breeds across the southeastern United States, from the Atlantic coastal plain through the Gulf states and up the Mississippi Valley to southern Indiana and Kansas. The species migrates southward in autumn to winter quarters in the Caribbean, Central America, and northern South America. Like all nightjars, it is a crepuscular and nocturnal insectivore, capturing large moths, beetles, and other flying insects in flight using its enormous, bristle-fringed gape. By day, the Chuck-will's-widow roosts on the ground or along horizontal branches, relying on cryptic mottled plumage for concealment. It nests directly on the leaf litter of open woodland and scrub, typically in pine-oak forests, dry forests, and woodland edges. The IUCN classifies this species as Least Concern, though Breeding Bird Survey data suggest moderate long-term population declines linked to forest fragmentation and light pollution that disrupts insect prey availability. Conservation of large-scale woodland tracts in the southeastern United States benefits this species and its associated nightjar community.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 3 countries:

🇨🇴 Colombia 🇳🇴 Norway 🇻🇪 Venezuela