What is "chordeiles minor"

nighthawk \nighthawk\ n.

1. A person who likes to be active late at night; a night owl.

   Syn: night owl, nightbird.

2. (Zo["o]l.) Any of several mainly nocturnal North American goatsuckers, especially Chordeiles minor, or the related European goatsucker Caprimulgus europaeus, also called the nightjar.

   Syn: bullbat, mosquito hawk.

Caprimulgidae \Caprimulgidae\ n. [L. capris goat + mulgere to milk.] a widely distributed natural family of nocturnally active birds including the whip-poor-will ( Caprimulgus vociferus), the chuck-will's-widow ( Caprimulgus carolinensis), and the common nighthawk ( Chordeiles minor); -- called popularly the goatsuckers or nightjars. The nighthawks are sometimes active during the day.

Syn: goatsuckers, nightjars, family Caprimulgidae.

The family . . . is alternately known as the nightjars (derived from the "churring" sounds of several species -- "jarring" the night air), or goatsuckers, a nonsense name that should be discontinued as it has its origin in the preposterous myth that the birds sucked the milk of nanny goats until they were dry.
--Terence Michael Short (Wild Birds of the Americas)