Least ConcernEuropean Nightjar
Caprimulgus europaeus
49 countries154 parks
Species group · Birds
WAnimals has 2 species of nightjar, in the family Caprimulgidae.
Ranges calculated from the profiles that record the figure, not from all 2.
Each one has its own full profile. This group does not replace them: it brings them together.
No species documented in this group is genuinely at risk according to the IUCN, with the data available today.
Recorded in 49 countries. The ones with the most species in the group:
Its mouth is enormous for the size of its head, and it uses it as a net to catch flying insects on the wing at night.
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Its scientific name and its common name in several European languages come from an ancient myth that had it suckling from goats: Caprimulgus means literally "goat-milker", from capra and mulgere.
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Its song is a monotonous, continuous churring that recalls a car engine or a cat's purr.
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It settles on the ground or lengthways along a branch, and its plumage makes it all but invisible.
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The Iberian Peninsula is the only place in Europe where it breeds.
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Its main non-natural cause of death is being run over: it settles on tarmac and gravel tracks because they hold the heat, which saves it energy in thermoregulation but leaves it exposed to cars.
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