Belongs within: Caprimulgiformes.
Caprimulgus is an Old World genus of nightjars in which the rictus is armed with strong bristles (Sclater 1866a).
<==Caprimulgus Linnaeus 1758M02
|--+--C. indicusBKB15
| | |--C. i. indicusA72
| | |--C. i. hazaraeA72
| | `--C. i. kelaartiA72
| `--+--C. madagascariensisBKB15
| `--C. manillensisBKB15
`--+--+--+--C. aegyptius Lichtenstein 1823BKB15, M-PG70
| | | |--C. a. aegyptiusM-PG70
| | | `--C. a. saharae Erlanger 1899M-PG70
| | `--C. affinisBKB15
| | |--C. a. affinisA72
| | `--C. a. monticolusA72
| `--+--C. nigriscapularis Reichenow 1893BKB15, M-PG70 [=C. pectoralis nigriscapularisM-PG70]
| `--+--C. pectoralisBKB15
| | |--C. p. pectoralisM-PG70
| | `--C. p. fervidus Sharpe 1875M-PG70
| `--C. poliocephalusBKB15
`--+--C. macrurusBKB15
| |--C. m. macrurusJ06
| |--C. m. aequabilisA72
| |--C. m. albonotatusA72
| |--C. m. ambiguusA72
| `--C. m. schlegeliiJ06
`--+--C. batesi Sharpe 1906BKB15, M-PG70
`--+--+--C. longipennis Shaw 1796AP21, M-PG70 [=Macrodipteryx longipennisBKB15; incl. C. houyiM-PG70]
| `--C. vexillarius (Gould 1838)AP21, M-PG70 [=Semeiophorus (Macrodypteryx) vexillariusM-PG70, BKB15]
`--+--+--C. climacurus Vieillot 1825BKB15, M-PG70 [=Scotornis climacurusM-PG70]
| | |--C. c. climacurusM-PG70
| | |--‘Scotornis’ c. leoninus Bannerman 1932M-PG70
| | `--‘Scotornis’ c. sclateri Bates 1927M-PG70
| `--C. fossii Hartlaub 1857BKB15, M-PG70 [=Scotornis fossiiM-PG70]
`--+--+--C. europaeus Linnaeus 1758BKB15, M02 (see below for synonymy)
| | |--C. e. europaeus [incl. C. europaeus meridionalis]M-PG70
| | |--C. e. sarudnyiA72
| | `--C. e. unwini Hume 1871M-PG70
| `--C. inornatus Heuglin 1869BKB15, M-PG70
| |--C. i. inornatusM-PG70
| |--C. i. malbranti Niethammer 1957M-PG70
| `--C. i. vinaceabrunneus Bannerman 1932M-PG70
`--+--C. fraenatusBKB15
`--C. rufigena Smith 1845BKB15, M-PG70
Caprimulgus incertae sedis:
C. aequicaudatusS66b
C. andamanicusAP21 [=C. macrurus andamanicusA72]
C. asiaticusJT12
|--C. a. asiaticusA72
`--C. a. eidosA72
C. atripennisJT12 [=C. macrurus atripennisA72]
C. badiusJT12
C. binotatus Bonaparte 1850M-PG70
C. celebensisJT12
C. centralasicusJT12
C. clarus Reichenow 1892JT12, M-PG70 (see below for synonymy)
C. concretusJT12
C. cubanensisJT12
C. donaldsoniJT12
C. ekmaniJT12
C. eximiusJT12
|--C. e. eximiusM-PG70
`--C. e. simplicior Hartert 1921M-PG70
C. heterurusJT12
C. hirundinaceusJT12
C. jotakaAP21 [=C. indicus jotakaA72]
C. maculosusJT12
C. mahrattensisD02
C. meesiJT12
C. natalensisJT12
|--C. n. natalensisM-PG70
|--C. n. chadensis Alexander 1908M-PG70
|--C. n. fulviventrisM-PG70
|--C. n. gabonensis Alexander 1908M-PG70
`--C. n. mpasaM-PG70
C. noctitherusJT12
C. nubicus Lichtenstein 1823 [incl. C. infuscatus Cretzschmar 1827]S05
C. phalaenaAP21
C. prigogineiJT12
C. pulchellusJT12
C. ruficollis Temminck 1820M-PG70
|--C. r. ruficollisM-PG70
`--C. r. desertorum Erlanger 1899M-PG70
C. ruwenzorii Grant 1909M-PG70
C. solalaJT12
C. stellatusJT12
C. stictomusS66a
C. tristigmaJT12
|--C. t. tristigmaM-PG70
|--C. t. lentiginosus Smith 1845M-PG70
`--C. t. sharpei Alexander 1901M-PG70
Caprimulgus clarus Reichenow 1892JT12, M-PG70 [=Scotornis climacurus clarusM-PG70, S. fossii clarusM-PG70; incl. Caprimulgus fossii apateliusM-PG70]
Caprimulgus europaeus Linnaeus 1758BKB15, M02 [incl. C. capeki Jánossy 1977M02, C. europaeus fossilis Čapek 1917M02]
*Type species of generic name indicated
References
[A72] Abdulali, H. 1972. A catalogue of the birds in the collection of the Bombay Natural History Society—11. Strigidae and Caprimulgidae. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 69 (1): 102–129.
[AP21] Arlott, N., & B. van Perlo. 2021. Collins Birds of the World. William Collins.
[BKB15] Burleigh, J. G., R. T. Kimball & E. L. Braun. 2015. Building the avian tree of life using a large-scale, sparse supermatrix. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 84: 53–63.
[D02] Devare, M. N. 2002. Breeding record of the Sykes’s nightjar Caprimulgus mahrattensis (Sykes) in Harike, Punjab, India. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 99 (3): 528–529.
[JT12] Jetz, W., G. H. Thomas, J. B. Joy, K. Hartmann & A. Ø. Mooers. 2012. The global diversity of birds in space and time. Nature 491: 444–448.
[J06] Johnstone, R. E. 2006. The birds of Gag Island, Western Papuan islands, Indonesia. Records of the Western Australian Museum 23 (2): 115–132.
[M-PG70] Mackworth-Praed, C. W., & C. H. B. Grant. 1970. African Handbook of Birds ser. 3 vol. 1. Birds of West Central and Western Africa. Longman: London.
[M02] Mlíkovský, J. 2002. Cenozoic Birds of the World. Part 1: Europe. Ninox Press: Praha.
[S66a] Sclater, P. L. 1866a. Notes upon the American Caprimulgidae. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 123–145.
[S66b] Sclater, P. L. 1866b. Additional notes on the Caprimulgidae. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 581–590.
[S05] Steinheimer, F. D. 2005. Eduard Rüppel’s avian types at the Natural History Museum, Tring (Aves). Senckenbergiana Biologica 85 (2): 233–264.