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  • Nightjar

Nightjar

Nightjar
Nightjar
Nightjar (female)
Nightjar (female)
  • Scientific name: Caprimulgus europaeus
  • Bird family: Nightjars
  • UK conservation status: Amber
  • Protected by The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981

Nightjar call audio

Your browser does not support this audio feature.

Niels Krabbe, Xeno-canto

Key information

Nightjars are nocturnal birds and can be seen hawking for food at dusk and dawn. With pointed wings and a long tails their shape is similar to a kestrel or cuckoo. Their cryptic, grey-brown, mottled, streaked and barred plumage provides ideal camouflage in the daytime.

They have an almost supernatural reputation with their silent flight and their mythical ability to steal milk from goats. The first indication that a nightjar is near is usually the male's churring song, rising and falling with a ventriloquial quality.

What they eat:

Insects - moths and beetles.

Measurements:

Length:
26-28cm
Wingspan:
57-64cm
Weight:
65-100g

Population:

UK breeding is the number of pairs breeding annually. UK wintering is the number of individuals present from October to March. UK passage is the number of individuals passing through on migration in spring and/or autumn.
UK breeding:
4,600 males

Identifying features:

Nightjar

Nightjar male illustration
Feather colour: Brown Cream/buff Grey White
Leg colour: Brown
Beak: Black Short Thin
Natural habitats: Woodland Heathland

Similar birds:

Male kestrel illustration
Kestrel
Cuckoo male
Cuckoo

Where and when to see them

Nightjars can be found on heathlands, moorlands, in open woodland with clearings and in recently felled conifer plantations. They are most numerous in southern England with good numbers in the New Forest, Dorset and Surrey heathlands and Thetford Forest in Suffolk. They are also found in parts of Wales, northern England and SW Scotland. RSPB reserves with nightjars are - Arne, Dorset; Aylesbeare, Devon and Minsmere and North Warren, Suffolk.

* This map is intended as a guide. It shows general distribution rather than detailed, localised populations.
  • Resident
  • Passage
  • Summer
  • Winter
Nightjar distribution map

Nightjars arrive in the UK between late April to mid-May. They are best looked and listened for at dusk on warm, still, summer evenings. They mainly leave in August.

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RSPB reserves

  • RSPB Aylesbeare Common
  • RSPB Tudeley Woods
  • RSPB Hazeley Heath
  • RSPB Farnham Heath
  • RSPB Blean Woods
  • RSPB Broadwater Warren
  • RSPB Arne
  • RSPB Budby South Forest

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