Buff-throated Saltator vs Chuck-will's-widow

Saltator maximus compared with Antrostomus carolinensis

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Buff-throated Saltator	Chuck-will's-widow
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Chordata (Chordates)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class same	Aves (Birds)	Aves (Birds)
Order	Passeriformes (Songbirds)	Caprimulgiformes (Caprimulgiformes)
Family	Thraupidae	Caprimulgidae
Genus	Saltator	Antrostomus
Species	Saltator maximus	Antrostomus carolinensis

Evolutionary Relationship

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

Conservation Status

Buff-throated Saltator

LC — Least Concern

Chuck-will's-widow

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Buff-throated Saltator	Chuck-will's-widow
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Buff-throated Saltator

Habitat

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

Range

Distributed across Colombia, Ecuador, Norway, and Venezuela.

Chuck-will's-widow

Habitat

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

Range

Distributed across Colombia, Norway, and Venezuela.

Buff-throated Saltator

A large, handsome saltator of humid forest, forest edge, and secondary woodland from Mexico through Central America and south to Bolivia and Brazil, buff-throated saltators display green upper parts with a distinctive white supercilium, black malar stripe, and warm buff throat. They are common in forest margins and gardens, producing rich, melodious warbling songs. They forage on seeds, fruit, and buds, occasionally joining mixed-species flocks. One of the most frequently observed saltators across their broad neotropical range.

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