The chin and throat are dark brown with cinnamon bars and a narrow white band below the latter.

The female is similar to the male but the pale tips of the outer tail feathers are much smaller and buff, not white.

[3] The Yucatan nightjar is a year-round resident of Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula and Cozumel off its coast.

It is a nonbreeding visitor to Belize and northwestern Honduras, and there are a few reports from northern Guatemala in that season as well.

The clutch size is two eggs, probably laid directly on the ground with no nest as is common among nightjars.

The Yucatan nightjar's song is "a loud, clear puc ree-u-reeeu' or pc weeu wee-weeeu.