Indian Nightjar

Overview

The Indian nightjar (Caprimulgus asiaticus) is a small, crepuscular nightjar that is a resident breeder across open lands in South and Southeast Asia. It is characterised by its distinctive calls and cryptic plumage that blends with the soil, making it difficult to spot during the day.

Identification

• Small, short-tailed bird with a golden nape and collar, dark cheeks, white throat patches, and a finely barred brown breast.
• White corners on the tail, with males showing more white than females.
• Call resembles a stone skipping on a frozen lake or a ping-pong ball bouncing rapidly.
• Bright red eye-shine is visible in vehicle headlights at night.
• Flies with an easy, silent, moth-like flight after sundown.

Habitat

Found in open woodland, scrub, and cultivation areas, typically sitting on the ground or low trees rather than high perches. Its range extends from northwestern India and adjoining Pakistan south of the Himalayas into Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Vietnam, as well as Sri Lanka, but it is absent from arid desert regions.

Diet

Primarily consumes flying and swarming insects such as mosquitoes, flies, beetles, locusts, and moths, which are caught with the bill held wide open. It often feeds near dawn and dusk, sometimes swooping over livestock or around artificial light sources, and will shake or break apart larger insects before swallowing them whole.

Did you know?

During the colonial period, it was known as the "ice-bird" due to its call sounding like a stone skipped across a frozen lake. It also poses a risk to its own population, as individuals resting on roads at night are frequently stunned by vehicle headlights and killed by traffic.