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Birds clap in the dark to flirt: Nightjars reveal a hidden language of sound

Phys · · 774 words · By Jules Bernstein

Researchers from UC Riverside and Argentina's CONICET used high-speed infrared cameras to discover that scissor-tailed nightjars produce a clapping sound by striking their wrist joints together during courtship. The study, published in the Journal of Avian Biology, explores non-vocal mechanical communication in birds.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://phys.org/news/2026-05-birds-dark-flirt-nightjars-reveal.html

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10%
Propaganda Score
confidence: 100%
Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

fact_checkFact-Check Results

7 claims extracted and verified against multiple sources including cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia.

info Single Source 4
verified Verified 2
check_circle Corroborated 1
info
“The findings, published in the Journal of Avian Biology, shed light on a lesser-known side of bird communication: sounds made not with voices, but with wings, feathers, claws, and bones.”
SINGLE SOURCE
While the Journal of Avian Biology is verified as a real publication, the provided evidence does not contain the specific study regarding non-vocal communication via wings, feathers, claws, and bones. The search results for this claim were generic study tools or general bird descriptions.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrate animals constituting the class Aves, characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chamb…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Journal of Avian Biology is a bimonthly peer-reviewed scientific journal of ornithology published by Wiley on behalf of the Nordic Society Oikos (NSO) in collaboration with Oikos, Nordic Journal …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journal_of_Avian_Biology
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Magnetoreception is a sense which allows an organism to detect the Earth's magnetic field. Animals with this sense include some arthropods, molluscs, and vertebrates (fish, amphibians, reptiles, bird…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetoreception
+ 3 more evidence sources
info
“Nightjars are related to hummingbirds, though they are nocturnal and look more like small owls.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The evidence provided for this claim consists of soft rock radio playlists and has no relevance to ornithology or the relationship between nightjars and hummingbirds.
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web search NEUTRAL — We are Soft Rock Radio, your ultimate destination for the best soft rock classics and slow hits from the 80s. You want to listen to artists like Foreigner, Simple Minds, Rick Springfield, Fleedwood Ma…
https://softrock.radio/
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web search NEUTRAL — Dec 14, 2025 · This playlist brings together legendary soft rock ballads that defined an era and continue to warm the hearts of music lovers around the world.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoQgWPu4FUQ
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web search NEUTRAL — The station for Classic Soft Rock from America, Bob Seger, Eric Clapton, Fleetwood Mac, James Taylor and more! Soft Rock Radio is an online radio station that plays a variety of soft rock music from t…
https://tunein.com/radio/Soft-Rock-Radio-s113401/
verified
“Male nightjars are especially striking, with long forked tails that spread open like a pair of scissors during courtship displays.”
VERIFIED
Multiple sources confirm that the male Scissor-tailed Nightjar (Hydropsalis torquata) has scissor-like elongated tail feathers used in displays.
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web search NEUTRAL — But courtship displays also involve some “gifts” from male to female. In several species, the male offers something to the female. Food is the most usual gift.Scissor-tailed Nightjar. Hydropsalis torq…
https://www.oiseaux-birds.com/article-birds-courtship-displa…
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web search NEUTRAL — The male Scissor-tailed Nightjar has scissor-like elongated tail feathers.The Rufous-bellied Nighthawk has long-wings; short tail; white throat; tawny belly; all-dark wings, tail. Similar to: Short-ta…
https://www.carolinabirds.org/HTML/Nightjar_New_World.htm
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web search NEUTRAL — The male performs a spectacular aerial display during courtship with his long tail forks streaming out behind him.The scissor-tailed flycatcher is the state bird of Oklahoma, and is displayed in fligh…
https://leesbird.com/2012/05/17/birds-vol-1-5-the-scissor-ta…
info
“The footage confirmed that the snapping noise is not vocal. Instead, the birds physically collide the radius bones in their wings, creating a sharp clap-like sound during courtship and copulation.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The evidence provided for this claim consists of shopping results for actual scissors and does not mention the radius bones of birds. However, other evidence (Claim 5) mentions 'wing-clapping display', but the specific mechanism of colliding radius bones is not corroborated by the provided sources.
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web search NEUTRAL — Browse quality scissors from trusted brands. Perfect for students, professionals, and craft enthusiasts. Find your ideal cutting tool today.
https://www.amazon.com/scissors/s?k=scissors
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web search NEUTRAL — Apr 29, 2025 · We’ve clipped, sliced, trimmed, and researched our way to the best scissors for each job, so you’ll never have to saw through a cardboard box with dull, wobbly scissors again. For openi…
https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-scissors-kit…
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web search NEUTRAL — We carry Klein Tools, Clauss, Wiss and more. Get free shipping on qualified Scissors products or Buy Online Pick Up in Store today in the Tools Department.
https://www.homedepot.com/b/Tools-Hand-Tools-Cutting-Tools-S…
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“Scientists have documented similar non-vocal displays in a handful of birds, including tropical manakins”
CORROBORATED
Two independent sources (a WordPress ornithology blog and 'Birds of the World') explicitly state that many manakin species produce non-vocal sounds by clapping their wing feathers together.
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web search NEUTRAL — The club-winged manakin is a species of bird in the family Pipridae. It is found in Colombia and Ecuador.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Club-winged_manakin
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web search NEUTRAL — Manakins – Pipridae. Piprids live in forested Neotropical habitats, ranging from lowland tropical rainforest to montane cloud forest.Many species also emit different non-vocal sounds in display, most …
https://birdphotography.eu/bird-families/bird-families-m-o/m…
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web search NEUTRAL — Pipridae Manakins. David W. Winkler, Shawn M. Billerman, and Irby J. Lovette Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020. range map. Year-round. Breeding.Many species also emit different non-vocal sounds i…
https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/piprid1/cur/introduc…
info
“Clark's team examined museum specimens to see whether the nightjars evolved specialized wrist structures to make the snapping easier or louder. They found no obvious anatomical modifications.”
SINGLE SOURCE
While evidence confirms that Scissor-tailed Nightjars perform wing-clapping displays, there is no evidence provided regarding museum specimen examinations or the lack of anatomical wrist modifications.
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web search NEUTRAL — They are sometimes called bugeaters, their primary source of food being insects. Some New World species are called nighthawks. The English word nightjar originally referred to the European nightjar.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nightjar
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web search NEUTRAL — Scissor-tailed Nightjarbird sounds *.Where to see Scissor-tailed Nightjar. Breeding region South America. Breeding subregion Amazonia and s Peru to s Brazil and c Argentina. Map. List of countries (8)…
https://dibird.com/species/scissor-tailed-nightjar/
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web search NEUTRAL — Male scissor-tailed nightjars perform a wing-clapping display. The species' nesting season has not been defined but appears to include at least September to December. They lay two eggs directly on the…
https://kids.kiddle.co/Scissor-tailed_nightjar
verified
“Juan Ignacio Areta et al, High‐speed infrared video analysis of sonations in the scissor‐tailed nightjar Hydropsalis torquata, Journal of Avian Biology (2026). DOI: 10.1002/jav.03631”
VERIFIED
The professional publication list of ornithologist Nacho Areta explicitly lists the paper 'High-speed infrared video analysis of sonations in the Scissor-tailed Nightjar (Hydropsalis torquata)'.
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web search NEUTRAL — The scissor-tailed nightjar (Hydropsalis torquata) is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is distributed over much of eastern South America.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scissor-tailed_nightjar
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web search NEUTRAL — High-speed infrared video analysis of sonations in the Scissor-tailed Nightjar (Hydropsalis torquata).
https://nachoareta.wordpress.com/pdfs/
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web search NEUTRAL — feathers of a Scissor-tailed Nightjar , an. outermost right rectrix and a left secondary.In light of the limited amount of published. information on the status of this species in. northern Peru, we pr…
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/311533267_A_record_…
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.