Spotted Nightjar
Parent, Close Up
Spotted Nightjar
Day Old Chick, profile
| Spotted Nightjar Parent, Close Up | | Spotted Nightjar Day Old Chick, profile | | ||
 | Class: | Animals (Animalia) - Chordates (Chordata) - Birds (Aves) | |||
| Order: | Nightbirds (Caprimulgiformes) | ||||
| Family: | Nightjar (Caprimulgidae) iNaturalist Observation | ||||
| Species: | Spotted Nightjar (Eurostopodus argus) | ||||
| This Photo: | 🔍Parent, Camouflage🔎 | ||||
Thank you Brendan Duggan, Bradley W. Jones & Ollie Scully for confirming the id of this species for us General Species Information: Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA) and elsewhere Nests on the ground. Uses camouflage for protection. Has very distinctive white stripes on the wings (both upper & lower). When exploring Ellura, we were startled by a medium-large sized bird on the ground suddenly taking flight. In no time it was hundreds of metres away. A Brown Falcon then decided it was invading it's territory and started dive bombing it. Yesterday (14 Jan 2015), a similar thing happened again. This time it kept landing on the ground. We followed it in circles for about 4 landings before loosing it. Couldn't get a photo, due to the bushes & trees. At one point it was right in front of us and probably could have taken a photo if we could see it. Its camouflage is amazing. Yesterday (21 11 2021), while collecting Eucalypt specimens for id, Marie was started by a pair of adults lifting from the ground. When she was looking for them, she saw the little chick on the ground. We estimate it's only a day old, but may be older, we aren't sure; it's very exciting! When we went to photograph it, the one sitting kept lifting but only going for a short distance. It was leading us away from the chick; staying a safe distance from us but also not hiding too much. We quickly turned and left them alone. | |||||
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