Nightjar Caprimulgus europaeus

The Nightjar, Caprimulgus europaeus, is a nocturnal summer migrant belonging to the family Caprimulgidae, and one of Britain’s most atmospheric and enigmatic breeding birds. Superbly camouflaged in intricate grey-brown, buff, and black patterning, roosting birds are virtually invisible against bark or leaf litter. As dusk falls, males take to the air and deliver their extraordinary churring song – a continuous, mechanical purring that rises and falls and carries far across the open heath. An aerial insectivore, it hawks for moths and other large insects on silent, buoyant wings. The Nightjar is a specialist of open heathland and recently cleared or young conifer plantation with bare, sandy ground. Suffolk’s Sandlings heaths and Breckland support an important breeding population, making the county a significant stronghold for this declining species. Image: © Imran Shah, Flickr.

Find out more: RSPB, Suffolk Wildlife Trust, iNaturalist