Australian Owlet-nightjar
A species of Owlet-nightjars Scientific name : Aegotheles cristatus Genus : Owlet-nightjars
Australian Owlet-nightjar, A species of Owlet-nightjars
Botanical name: Aegotheles cristatus
Genus: Owlet-nightjars
Content
Description General Info
Description
The Australian owlet-nightjar is a small to medium-sized owlet-nightjar with grey upperparts and a white, barred front and a distinct dark and pale patterning on the head. In the north of Australia females can also have a rufous morph. The plumage is overall paler in desert populations. It is adapted to live in open woodland, with more pointed wings and larger feet, unlike most of the rest of the family that live in dense forest (though some individuals of this species can and do live in such habitat in Queensland and New Guinea). It lives in a variety of habitats in addition to open woodland, including mangrove swamps, grasslands, mallee scrub and dense forest. 
Size
25 cm
Feeding Habits
Australian Owlet-nightjar primarily feeds on diverse small insects like ants, notably in winter, other arthropods, and occasionally ingests seeds inadvertently. It employs a sallying-foraging technique from perches or the ground and is more active on moonlit nights, with predation risks influencing its nocturnal activity.
Habitat
Australian Owlet-nightjar is commonly found in various ecosystems, ranging from open woodlands, including eucalyptus and acacia shrublands, to grasslands and mallee scrub. Preferring drier, mature woodlands and taller shrublands, australian Owlet-nightjar also inhabits trees along watercourses and occasionally tall mangroves, open grassland, and rainforests. The species is more adapted to open habitats with pointed wings and larger feet for its specific ecological niche. Geographically, australian Owlet-nightjar resides at sea level up to 1000 meters, occasionally higher in some regions, and is also known to occur in savannas of broader geographical areas.
Dite type
Insectivorous
General Info
Feeding Habits
Bird Feeder Type
Platform
Behavior
The Australian owlet-nightjar feeds at night by diving from perches and snatching insects from the air, ground or off trunks and branches, in the manner of a flycatcher. It may also feed on the wing. It feeds on most insects, particularly beetles, grasshoppers and ants. During the day they roost in hollows in trees, partly for protection from predators and partly to avoid being mobbed by other birds that mistake them for owls. The Australian owlet-nightjar nests mainly in holes in trees (or in other holes and crevices), which is provisioned with leaves by both of the pair. It is thought that the frequent addition of eucalyptus leaves is because they act as a beneficial insecticide. Three or four eggs are laid, and incubated by the female for just under a month. Both the adults feed the chicks, which fledge after a month. The young birds are reported to stay close to the parents for several months after they fledge. The species is itself prey to another nocturnal carnivore, Macroderma gigas. a larger microchiropteran known as the ghost bat.
Species Status
Not globally threatened.
Scientific Classification
Phylum
Chordates Class
Birds Order
Swifts and hummingbirds Family
Owlet-nightjars Genus
Owlet-nightjars Species
Australian Owlet-nightjar 
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