Nightjar

Nightjars are medium-sized nocturnal birds with long wings, short legs and very short bills that usually nest on the ground.

Nightjar
My encounters with that mysterious bird, the nightjar, have been few and are perhaps the more memorable for that.

Nightjar
Related Category: Vertebrate Zoology
common name for birds also known as goatsuckers.

Home > Animals > About the Animals > Birds > Nightjars, frogmouths, whippoorwills
Nightjars, frogmouths, whippoorwills
Tawny Frogmouth ...

Nightjar
Nightjars are most active at dawn and dusk when they hunt for moths, beetles and crane flies. They demonstrate astonishing aerial agility as they execute rapid twists and turns in pursuit of their prey.

Nightjars
Europe has two species of nightjars, and there are many more worldwide, but the UK has just one.

Sykes' Nightjar Caprimulgus mahrattensis
Described by: Sykes (1832)
Alternate common name(s): Sykes's Nightjar, Sind Nightjar
Old scientific name(s): None known by website authors ...

[edit] Nightjars in human culture
These lines are from the poem Love in the Valley by George Meredith -
Lone on the fir-branch, his rattle-notes unvaried, Brooding o'er the gloom, spins the brown eve-jar.

Nightjars are summer visitors to Europe, wintering in sub-Saharan Africa. They arrive early May and are gone by October. Essentially heathland birds, they require low, sparse vegetation in which to nest.

Blackish Nightjar (Caprimulgus nigrescens)
The Blackish Nightjar is found in the Amazon Basin where it prefers rocky outcrops or forest clearings. Although nocturnal, it can be found roosting on rocks during the day as this bird was.

Nightjar, European Caprimulgus europaeus Found: Europe, Asia
Photographed by ArvydasS
Nighthawk, Common Chordeiles minor Found: The Americas
Photographed by: 1, 2) Rusty Dodson in the Flint Hills of Kansas 3) Ra'id Khalil in Ecuador ...

Nightjars (CAPRIMULGIFORMES)
Goatsuckers (CAPRIMULGIDAE)
Swifts and Hummingbirds (APODIFORMES) ...

Nightjars, Oilbirds, Owls, Owlet-nightjars and Potoos
Columbiformes
Pigeons ...

NIGHTJARS (CAPRIMULGIDAE)
Common Nighthawk (Chordeiles minor)
Lesser Nighthawk (Chordeiles acutipennis)
Common Pauraque (Nyctidromus albicollis)
Common Poorwill (Phalaenoptilus nuttallii) ...

Egyptian nightjar (Caprimulgus aegyptius)
The scientific name for this species, Caprimulgus, is from the Latin for 'goat sucker', a name that arose from a past belief that this bird... More 3 Images 0 videos ...

This is an area of intense farming and very few woods have been left uncut. Phil took us to one of them and we had Tawny Frogmouth on the nest. Phil scraped on a tree and the Owlet Nightjar flew out to perch nearby.

Separated from all nightjars except nighthawks by the pale patch in the wing. Lesser Nighthawk is similar but tends to have its white patch farther out (2/3 of the way from the bend of the wing) its wing.

It is actually a member of the nightjar family. The nightjar family includes the whip-poor-will and the common poorwill. The common nighthawk is a jay-sized bird about 10 inches in length.

The Common Poorwill is the smallest of the "nightjars" in North America, and is considered the western counterpart of the eastern Whip-poor-will.

In England goatssuckers are called the Nightjars . The whippoorwill is common in the Eastern United States. Unlike other birds its hibernates during the winter instead of migrating. Its body temperature drops from 102 Fahrenheit 26.

They have alternatively been grouped together with the nightjars. The classification we use recognizes three distinct orders for owls, falcons, and nightjars.

Most goatsuckers (aka nightjars) are nocturnal although the Common Nighthawk may be seen during the day. The Nighthawk has adapted to urban areas while the others prefer less developed areas.

Often mistaken for an owl, the tawny frogmouth is actually a member of the nightjar family. The bird is named for its large mouth, which it uses to catch insects and small animals.

Birding after the Wet Season
The Nightjar in Queens
Train, Train, Bird, or, Birding Van Cortlandt Park
Broome to Busan
Delmarva Down to the Outer Banks ...

It is sometimes mistaken for an owl, but frogmouths are more closely related to nightjars. The feathers are dark gray along the back and wings. The colour fades as the feathers approach the under parts of the tawny frogmouth.

Often mistaken for owls, these unique birds are part of the nightjar, nighthawks, and whippoorwill family.
3.

The Tawny Frogmouth is often thought to be an owl, but is in fact related to nightjars. There are 14 species, or kinds, or frogmouth.

Hummingbirds
Lapwings, Plovers
Pigeons, Doves
Parakeets, Macaws, Parrots
Partridges, Grouse, Turkeys, Quail
Rails, Gallinules, Coots
Owls, Nightjars
Birds-of-Prey, Vultures
Non-Passerines: Water ...

-Nightjars. Nocturnal. With gaping mouth. Ten remiges and ten rectrices. Spinae sterni vestigial. Caeca functional. Steatornithidae, Steatornis, oil-bird or guacharo, South America. Podargidae, Australasian, Caprimulgidae, cosmopolitan.

Numerous desert reptiles and birds, including rattlesnakes, chuckwallas, desert tortoises, Gila monsters and nightjars and hummingbirds also experience torpid states.

See also: Hummingbird, Finch, Woodpecker, Pigeon, Sparrow