UKBirds

European Nightjar

Caprimulgus europaeus

The European Nightjar, or just Nightjar, Caprimulgus europaeus, is the only representative of the nightjar family of birds in most of Europe and temperate Asia.

It is a late migrant, seldom appearing before the end of April or beginning of May. It occurs throughout northern and central Europe, and winters in Africa, as far south as the Cape.

In southern Europe, and the warmer parts of Africa and Asia, it is replaced by other members of the nightjar family. In Great Britain and Ireland it occurs in many suitable localities, but in the Shetlands and other northern islands it is only known as an occasional migrant. It is a priority species in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan. The Irish population has declined significantly in recent years.

Open heathy wastes, Lowland heath, bracken-covered slopes and open woods are the haunts of the crepuscular Nightjar.

The plumage of the adult Nightjar is lichen-grey, barred and streaked with buff, chestnut and black. The under parts are barred. White spots on primaries and white tips to the outer tail feathers are characters of the male; in the young male these are buff. The bill is black, the legs reddish brown.

The variegated plumage resembles that of the Wryneck, its wide gape and long wings are like a swift's, and its soft downy plumage and nocturnal habits are akin to an owls. The length is 25-30 cm (9.8-12 in), the body mass is 50-100 g (1.8-3.5 oz) and the wingspan is 53-61 cm (21-24 in).

The male may be told from the female by the white spots on his wings and tail, and as he gracefully floats above her, with wings upraised at a sharp angle, he spreads his tail wide to show the white spots. On the ground both birds will swing the tail from side to side when excited. The Nightjar does not hunt with open mouth, as often depicted, but the huge gape opens wide for large crepuscular insects, such as noctuid moths and dor-beetles, which are snapped up with avidity. Crepuscular insects are its food.

Its song, from which it derives some of its common names, is a strange churring trill and is the surest means of identification. Its soft mechanical trill rises and falls as it vibrates on the variable evening breeze, or as the bird turns its head from side to side. The lower mandible vibrates and the throat is distended until the feathers stand out.

When it churrs the bird lies or crouches along a bough or rail, but it will sing from a post, and occasionally perch across a branch.

When on the wing it has a soft call, and a sharper and repeated alarm, cuick, cuick, but during courtship, and occasionally at other times, it uses a mechanical signal, a sharp cracking sound, caused by clapping the wings together over the back.

The Nightjar flies at dusk, most often at sundown, a long-tailed, shadowy form with easy, silent moth-like flight; its strong and deliberate wingbeats alternate with graceful sweeps and wheels with motionless wings.

During the day it lies silent upon the ground, often on a heap of stones, concealed by its plumage; it is difficult to detect, looking like a bit of lichen-covered twig or a fragment of bark. With eyes almost closed it watches through tiny slits, rising suddenly, sometimes with a croak of alarm, but usually silently, when almost stepped on.