Characterization: Species measuring about 30 cm. The male’s neck, the broad stripe on its wings, and the tip of its tail are white; its tail is long, but is not forked. The stripe on the male’s wings and the large longitudinal spots on its rectrices are white. These spots are displayed in short, vertical flights, and are very visible even into the night.

Distribution: This bird is spread from Southern United States and Mexico to Bolivia, Paraguay, Misiones, and throughout Brazil. 

Habitat: Forest edge, new and open vegetation areas, fields of isolated trees, savanna, and forest patches, and may be seen in secondary forests and forests in the reforestation process. 

Habits: It lives on the ground. It lands in a lowered position, lies on its belly, and is only seen at night on the roads or sugarcane field tracks lighted by vehicle headlights that attract insects it hunts. 

Diet: Insectivores, this bird takes off from the ground and uses the clarity of the night sky to hunt and land again on the ground. 

Breeding: Nests are built straight on the ground. This bird species lays 2 reddish, brown-spotted elliptical eggs. The hatchlings have very efficient camouflage, as they have a color that is very similar to the dry foliage on the forest floor.

In the UFRA area: At the UFRA farms, it was seen only a few times and only in the organic sugarcane fields.