Vaurie's Nightjar
A species of Old World Nightjars Scientific name : Caprimulgus centralasicus Genus : Old World Nightjars
Vaurie's Nightjar, A species of Old World Nightjars
Botanical name: Caprimulgus centralasicus
Genus: Old World Nightjars
Content
Description General Info
Description
The European nightjar is 24.5–28 cm (9.6–11.0 in) long, with a 52–59 cm (20–23 in) wingspan. The male weighs 51–101 g (1.8–3.6 oz) and the female 67–95 g (2.4–3.4 oz). The adult of the nominate subspecies has greyish-brown upperparts with dark streaking, a pale buff hindneck collar and a white moustachial line. The closed wing is grey with buff spotting, and the underparts are greyish-brown, with brown barring and buff spots. The bill is blackish, the iris is dark brown and the legs and feet are brown. The flight on long pointed wings is noiseless, due to their soft plumage, and very buoyant. Flying birds can be sexed since the male has a white wing patch across three primary feathers and white tips to the two outer tail feathers, whereas females do not show any white in flight. Chicks have downy brown and buff plumage, and the fledged young are similar in appearance to the adult female. Adults moult their body feathers from June onwards after breeding, suspend the process while migrating, and replace the tail and flight feathers on the wintering grounds. Moult is completed between January and March. Immature birds follow a similar moult strategy to the adults unless they are from late broods, in which case the entire moult may take place in Africa. Other nightjar species occur in parts of the breeding and wintering ranges. The red-necked nightjar breeds in Iberia and northwest Africa; it is larger, greyer and longer winged than the European nightjar, and has a broad buff collar and more conspicuous white markings on the wings and tail. Wintering European nightjars in Africa may overlap with the related rufous-cheeked and sombre nightjars. Both have a more prominent buff hind-neck collar and more spotting on the wing coverts. The sombre nightjar is also much darker than its European cousin. Given their nocturnal habits, cryptic plumage and difficulty of observation, nightjar observation "is as much a matter of fortune as effort or knowledge". 
Size
19 cm
Feeding Habits
The European nightjar feeds on a wide variety of flying insects, including moths, beetles, mantises, dragonflies, cockroaches and flies. It will pick glowworms off vegetation. It consumes grit to aid with digesting its prey, but any plant material and non-flying invertebrates consumed are taken inadvertently while hunting other food items. Young chicks have been known to eat their own faeces. Birds hunt over open habitats and woodland clearings and edges, and may be attracted to insects concentrating around artificial lights, near farm animals or over stagnant ponds. They usually feed at night, but occasionally venture out on overcast days. Nightjars pursue insects with a light twisting flight, or flycatch from a perch; they may rarely take prey off the ground. They drink by dipping to the water surface as they fly. Breeding European nightjars travel on average 3.1 km (3,400 yd) from their nests to feed. Migrating birds live off their fat reserves. European nightjars hunt by sight, silhouetting their prey against the night sky. They tend to flycatch from a perch on moonlit nights, but fly continuously on darker nights when prey is harder to see; Tracking experiments show that feeding activity more than doubles on moonlit nights. Hunting frequency reduces in the middle of the night. Although they have very small bills, the mouth can be opened very wide as they catch insects. They have long sensitive bristles around the mouth, which may help to locate or funnel prey into the mouth. Indigestible parts of insects, such as the chitin exoskeleton, are regurgitated as pellets. Nightjars have relatively large eyes, each with a tapetum lucidum (reflective layer behind the retina) that makes the eyes shine in torchlight and improves light detection at dusk, dawn and in moonlight. The retinas of nocturnal birds, including nightjars, are adapted for sight in low-light levels and have a higher density of rod cells and far fewer cone cells compared to those of most diurnal birds. These adaptations favour good night vision at the expense of colour discrimination In many day-flying species, light passes through coloured oil droplets within the cone cells to improve colour vision. In contrast, nightjars have a limited number of cone cells, either lacking or having only a few oil droplets. The nocturnal eyesight of nightjars is probably equivalent to that of owls. Although they have good hearing, European nightjars appear not to rely on sound to find insects, and nightjars do not echolocate.
General Info
Behavior
The European nightjar is crepuscular and nocturnal. During the day it rests on the ground, often in a partly shaded location, or perches motionless lengthwise along an open branch or a similar low perch. The cryptic plumage makes it difficult to see in the daytime, and birds on the ground, if they are not already in shade, will turn occasionally to face the sun thereby minimising their shadow. If it feels threatened, the nightjar flattens itself to the ground with eyes almost closed, flying only when the intruder is 2–5 m (7–16 ft) away. It may call or wing clap as it goes, and land as far as 40 m (130 ft) from where it was flushed. In the wintering area it often roosts on the ground but also uses tree branches up to 20 m (66 ft) high. Roost sites at both the breeding and wintering grounds are used regularly if they are undisturbed, sometimes for weeks at a time. Like other nightjars, it will sit on roads or paths during the night and hover to investigate large intruders such as deer or humans. It may be mobbed by birds while there is still light, and by bats, other nightjar species or Eurasian woodcocks during the night. Owls and other predators such as red foxes will be mobbed by both male and female European nightjars. Like other aerial birds, such as swifts and swallows, nightjars make a quick plunge into water to wash. They have a unique serrated comb-like structure on the middle claw, which is used to preen and perhaps to remove parasites. In cold or inclement weather, several nightjar species can slow their metabolism and go into torpor, notably the common poorwill, which will maintain that state for weeks. The European nightjar has been observed in captivity to be able to maintain a state of torpor for at least eight days without harm, but the relevance of this to wild birds is unknown.
Distribution Area
The breeding range of the European nightjar comprises Europe north to around latitude 64°N and Asia north to about 60°N and east to Lake Baikal and eastern Mongolia. The southern limits are northwestern Africa, Iraq, Iran and the northwestern Himalayas. This nightjar formerly bred in Syria and Lebanon. All populations are migratory, and most birds winter in Africa south of the Sahara, with just a few records from Pakistan, Morocco and Israel. Migration is mainly at night, singly or in loose groups of up to twenty birds. European breeders cross the Mediterranean and North Africa, whereas eastern populations move through the Middle East and East Africa. Some Asian birds may therefore cross 100° of longitude on their travels. Most birds start their migration at the time of a full moon. Most birds winter in eastern or southeastern Africa, although individuals of the nominate race have been recently discovered wintering in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; records elsewhere in West Africa may be wintering birds of this subspecies or C. e. meridionalis. Most autumn migration takes place from August to September, and the birds return to the breeding grounds by May. Recent tracking data has revealed that European nightjars have a loop migration from Western Europe to sub-equatorial Africa where they have to cross several ecological barriers (Mediterranean Sea, Sahara and the Central African Tropical Rainforest). Individuals use similar stop-over sites as do other European migrants. Vagrants have occurred in Iceland, the Faroe Islands, the Seychelles, the Azores, Madeira and the Canary Islands. The European nightjar is a bird of dry, open country with some trees and small bushes, such as heaths, commons, moorland, forest clearings or felled or newly planted woodland. When breeding, it avoids treeless or heavily wooded areas, cities, mountains, and farmland, but it often feeds over wetlands, cultivation or gardens. In winter it uses a wider range of open habitats including acacia steppe, sandy country and highlands. It has been recorded at altitudes of 2,800 m (9,200 ft) on the breeding grounds and 5,000 m (16,000 ft) in the wintering areas.
Species Status
The global population of the European nightjar in 2020 was estimated at 3–6 million birds, and estimates of the European population ranged from 290,000 to 830,000 individuals. Although there appeared to be a fall in numbers, it is not rapid enough to trigger the vulnerability criteria. The huge breeding range and population mean that this species is classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as being of least concern. The largest breeding populations as of 2012 were in Russia (up to 500,000 pairs), Spain (112,000 pairs) and Belarus (60,000 pairs). There have been declines in much of the range, but especially in northwestern Europe. The loss of insect prey through pesticide use, coupled with disturbance, collision with vehicles and habitat loss have contributed to the falling population. As ground-nesting birds, they are adversely affected by disturbance, especially by domestic dogs, which may destroy the nest or advertise its presence to crows or predatory mammals. Breeding success is higher in areas with no public access; where access is permitted, and particularly where dog owners allow their pets to run loose, successful nests tend to be far from footpaths or human habitation. In Britain and elsewhere, commercial forestry has created new habitat which has increased numbers, but these gains are likely to be temporary as the woodland develops and becomes unsuitable for nightjars. In the United Kingdom, it is red-listed as a cause for concern, and in Ireland it was close to extinction as of 2012.
Scientific Classification
Phylum
Chordates Class
Birds Order
Nightjars and Relatives Family
Nightjars and nighthawks Genus
Old World Nightjars Species
Vaurie's Nightjar 
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