The European nightjar, common goatsucker, Eurasian nightjar or just nightjar, is a crepuscular and nocturnal bird in the nightjar family that breeds across most of Europe and the Palearctic to Mongolia and Northwestern China. The Latin generic name refers to the old myth that the nocturnal nightjar suckled from goats, causing them to cease to give milk. The six subspecies differ clinally, the birds becoming smaller and paler towards the east of the range. All populations are migratory, wintering in sub-Saharan Africa. Their densely patterned grey and brown plumage makes individuals difficult to see in the daytime when they rest on the ground or perch motionless along a branch, although the male shows white patches in the wings and tail as he flies at night.
The standard-winged nightjar is a nocturnal bird in the nightjar family.
The Indian nightjar is a small nightjar which is a resident breeder in open lands across South Asia and Southeast Asia. Like most nightjars it is crepuscular and is best detected from its characteristic calls at dawn and dusk that have been likened to a stone skipping on a frozen lake - a series of clicks that become shorter and more rapid. They are sometimes spotted on roads when their eyes gleam red in the spotlight of a vehicle. There is considerable plumage variation across its range and can be hard to differentiate from other nightjars in the region especially in the field.
Jerdon's nightjar is a medium-sized nightjar species native to southern India and Sri Lanka. Formerly considered as a subspecies of the long-tailed nightjar, it is best recognized by its distinctive call which sounds like a wooden plank being beaten periodically with each note ending in a quaver. The common name commemorates Thomas C. Jerdon who described the species.
The pauraque – also called the common pauraque to distinguish it from similar species – is a nightjar species, one of two birds in the genus Nyctidromus. It breeds in the subtropical and tropical regions of the New World, and except for northern most birds it is largely resident all year round.
Caprimulgus is a large and very widespread genus of nightjars, medium-sized nocturnal birds with long pointed wings, short legs and short bills. Caprimulgus is derived from the Latin capra, "nanny goat", and mulgere, "to milk", referring to an old myth that nightjars suck milk from goats. The common name "nightjar", first recorded in 1630, refers to the nocturnal habits of the bird, the second part of the name deriving from the distinctive churring song.
The Cayenne nightjar is a species of bird in the nightjar family only known from a single specimen, a male taken on the Fleuve Mana, French Guiana, in 1917. However, a possible female was caught at the Saül airstrip, French Guiana, in 1982.
The jungle nightjar is a species of nightjar found in the Indian Subcontinent. It is found mainly on the edge of forests where it is seen or heard at dusk. The taxonomy of this and related nightjars is complex and a range of treatments have been followed that cover this and several other nightjars in the Asian region. It was formerly called the grey nightjar or Indian jungle nightjar and sometimes included the East Asian grey nightjar as a subspecies.
The Satanic nightjar, also Heinrich's nightjar, satanic eared-nightjar, Sulawesi eared-nightjar or diabolical nightjar is a mid-sized, spotted, dark brown nightjar endemic to the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. The species was discovered in 1931 by Gerd Heinrich, a German natural historian who collected a single female holotype from Mount Klabat on the Minahasa peninsula of Northern Sulawesi. In the following decades, there were a few unconfirmed reports of sightings and calls of the bird, but it did not officially resurface until 1996 when David Bishop and Jared Diamond positively identified it in Lore Lindu National Park by its sound. Making the visible rediscovery available for multiple people in the tour group including poet and writer Jan Zwaaneveld. This increased the bird's estimated range by 750 km. It has since been observed and described in the literature multiple times.
Anthony's nightjar, also known as the scrub nightjar, is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is found in Ecuador and Peru.
Bates's nightjar or the forest nightjar, is a bird species of the family Caprimulgidae, found in the rainforests of western Sub-Saharan Africa.
The little nightjar is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay.
The Nechisar nightjar is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is endemic to Ethiopia.
The Roraiman nightjar is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is found in Brazil, Guyana, and Venezuela.
The sickle-winged nightjar is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and possibly Uruguay.
The white-winged nightjar is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil and Paraguay.
Prigogine's greenbul is a species of songbird in the bulbul family, Pycnonotidae. It is found only in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The Itombwe owl is a species of owl in the barn owl family, Tytonidae. It is restricted to a small area in the Albertine Rift montane forests.
Tschudi's nightjar or lesser band-winged nightjar is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is found in Chile and Peru.
Alexandre Romanovich Prigogine was a Belgian mineralogist and ornithologist of Russian-Jewish origin.
