Little nightjar

The little nightjar is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay.

Loading map...

Distribution

Region

South America

Typical Environment

Occurs from eastern Bolivia and Peru through much of Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay into northern Argentina. It favors open and semi-open habitats including savannas, Cerrado, Caatinga scrub, pastures, and forest edges. Often uses sandy or sparsely vegetated ground for roosting and nesting. It also adapts to human-modified landscapes, foraging along roads and near lights at night.

Altitude Range

0–1500 m

Climate Zone

Tropical

Characteristics

Size16–19 cm

Wing Span32–38 cm

Male Weight0.03 kg

Female Weight0.028 kg

Life Expectancy6 years

Ease of Keeping

Beginner friendly: 1/5

Useful to know

This small nightjar relies heavily on camouflage, roosting on the ground or low branches where its mottled plumage blends with leaf litter. It lays eggs directly on the ground without building a nest. Males show white patches on the throat and tail used in display, and the species becomes most active at dusk and during the night.

Gallery

Behaviour

Temperament

secretive and crepuscular

Flight Pattern

buoyant, moth-like flight with short glides and rapid wingbeats

Social Behavior

Generally solitary or in pairs, especially during the breeding season. Nests are simple ground scrapes with one or two eggs laid directly on bare soil or leaf litter. Adults rely on stillness and camouflage to avoid detection and will perform distraction displays if threatened.

Migratory Pattern

Resident

Song Description

At dusk and night it gives a soft, repetitive churring or trilled series, sometimes interspersed with dry chip notes. The song carries modestly and can sound insect-like from a distance.

Unlock detailed bird insights with Pro access today.

Identification

Leg Colorbrownish-grey

Eye Colordark brown

Plumage

Finely mottled brown, gray, and buff with cryptic patterning that blends into leaf litter and dry ground.

Feeding Habits

Diet

Primarily takes flying insects such as moths, beetles, termites, and other small nocturnal arthropods. Hunts by aerial hawking, sallying from the ground or low perches to snatch prey in a wide gape. May also forage near streetlights where insects congregate.

Preferred Environment

Feeds along open tracks, forest edges, savanna clearings, and over pastures. Often hunts low over the ground or along ecotones where insect activity is concentrated.

Population

Total Known Populationunknown

Little owl

The little owl, also known as the owl of Athena or owl of Minerva, is a bird that inhabits much of the temperate and warmer parts of Europe, the Palearctic east to Korea, and North Africa. It was introduced into Britain at the end of the 19th century and into the South Island of New Zealand in the early 20th century.

Little penguin

The little penguin is the smallest species of penguin which originates from New Zealand. It is commonly known as the fairy penguin, little blue penguin, or blue penguin, owing to its slate-blue plumage and is also known by its Māori name kororā. It is a marine neritic species that dives for food throughout the day and returns to burrows on the shore at dusk, making it the only nocturnal penguin species on land. Eudyptula minor feathers are dense in melanosomes, which increase water resistance and give them their unique blue colour.

Little pied cormorant

The little pied cormorant, little shag or kawaupaka is a common species of Australasian waterbird, found around the coasts, islands, estuaries, and inland waters of Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Timor-Leste and Indonesia, and around the islands of the south-western Pacific and the subantarctic. It is a small short-billed cormorant usually black above and white below with a yellow bill and small crest, although a mostly black white-throated form predominates in New Zealand. Three subspecies are recognised. Until recently, most authorities referred to this species as Phalacrocorax melanoleucos.

Little raven

The little raven is a species of the family Corvidae that is native to southeastern Australia. An adult individual is about 48–50 cm (19–19.5 in) in length, with completely black plumage, beak, and legs; as with all Australian species of Corvus, the black feathers have a grey base, and the iris of the adult bird is white. Although the little raven was first named by Gregory Mathews in 1912, it was only in 1967 that there was consensus to separate it from the Australian raven as a distinct species.