Indian Nightjar
(Caprimulgus asiaticus)
(Caprimulgus asiaticus)
Spotted this bird while on safari at Bandipur Wildlife
Sanctuary, Karnataka, India in the third week of April 2019. It
was a hot summer evening with mild summer showers and this bird was found
sitting/resting
on the ground, well camouflaged to the dark and black background caused by wild
forest fire.
The
Indian Nightjar is a small pigeon sized bird found to be distributed in many parts of India except
in arid regions.
They inhabit scrub jungles,
open woodlands and cultivated lands. They
generally rest in ground or lower branches of trees and are not usually found
in higher reaches of the trees. They
are crepuscular in nature, found to be active during twilight hours.
Being insectivores, they feed on insects such as mosquitoes, flies, beetles, locusts,
winged ants, moths, grasshoppers, plant lice, crickets and others. An interesting feature is
they don’t build elaborate
nests but lay eggs on ground that tend to be well camouflaged to the
surrounding areas. Nightjars are residential
birds.
Conservation status: Least concern
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