Granddad’s Camera
Nightjar, as it appears in the game

No.031 · Birds · Uncommon

Nightjar

Caprimulgus europaeus

A ghost-grey, ground-nesting night-bird whose churring song rolls across the heath at dusk. Hear it from late May to mid-August.

When to look

May to August, mostly at dusk.

Time of day

Best time
Dusk and the hour after, late May–July, on warm, still, dry evenings. Nightjars arrive from mid-May and mostly leave by mid-August.
Where in the game
the New Forest (heath)
Size
Length 26–28 cm
Wingspan
About 60 cm
Weight
About 73 g (BTO average)
Lifespan
Oldest ringed bird 12 years 1 month (BTO)
Population
About 4,600 males in the UK (BTO, 2004 survey), up 36% on the 1992 survey
Status
Amber (Birds of Conservation Concern 5, 2021)

Diet

Moths, beetles and other night-flying insects caught in a wide, gaping mouth.

Habitat

Lowland heath and recently felled or young conifer plantations.

Breeding

Two eggs laid directly on the bare ground from late May; often two broods.

Field signs

  • A long, continuous churring song like a distant motorbike, sometimes for minutes
  • Sharp wing claps in display flight
  • Sharp 'coo-ik' flight call
  • Long silhouette, pointed wings, white wing and tail spots on the male

Did you know?

  • Nightjars winter in Africa (BTO tracking has found them in the Democratic Republic of Congo) and are here from May to mid-August.
  • Its camouflage on the ground is so good that you can nearly step on a sitting bird; it is a spot of grey bark and leaf litter.
  • The New Forest holds roughly 15% of the UK's summer nightjars (Forestry England).

Moments worth waiting for

  • Churring and wing-clapping May to July, dusk and night
    A male churrs from a dead branch, then flings up, clapping his wings twice like a whip crack.

Photo tip

Arrive an hour before sunset and settle at the edge of open heath. Shoot at high ISO with a fast lens, and use a tripod. Male wing-claps at dusk give the best chance; do not use white light.

Be a good naturalist

Stay on paths and out of nesting areas; a female flushed off two eggs leaves them exposed. During the ground-nesting bird season (March to late August), keep dogs under close control on tracks and on leads in signed areas (Forestry England). Never use playback or torches; they disturb feeding and can draw males from their territory.

The law

Not on Schedule 1, but protected as a wild bird under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (nests and eggs may not be taken or damaged) and listed on Annex 1 of the Birds Directive.

Checked against