Grey Nightjar - BirdForum Opus

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Photo by cskhaw
Malaysia

Caprimulgus jotaka

Distribution

From southeast Siberia, Korea, Japan, east and south China to Burma, Bangladesh, Nepal to Pakistan.
Northeastern birds winter in Indochina, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. Fairly common in most of its range but scarce in Singapore. Accidental vagrant to Aleutian Islands, Alaska.

Taxonomy

Formerly considered conspecific with Jungle Nightjar and Palau Nightjar.

Subspecies

Two subspecies recognized:

• C. j. jotaka from southeastern Siberia to Japan, Korea and eastern China
• C. j. hazarae from northeast Pakistan through the Himalayas to northeast India, Burma, southern China and peninsular Malaysia

Habitat

Forests (different types), open woodland, scrubland, farmland, plantations. In the Himalayas in sparsely vegetated ravines. In winter also recorded in big cities.

Behaviour

Nocturnal. Roosts in trees (quite high) and on boulders. Sings from perch or ground.

Breeding

Breeding time different throughout range. May to August in Japan. Lays 1 - 2 eggs on bare ground, usually rocks, covered by vegetation. No nest.

Movements

Movements of this species are poorly understood. The northern jokata is highly migratory. Southern races maybe sedentary with some altitudinal movements.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2014. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.9., with updates to August 2014. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Gill, F and D Donsker (Eds). 2014. IOC World Bird Names (version 4.3). Available at http://www.worldbirdnames.org/.
3. Rasmussen, PC and JC Anderton. 2005. Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8487334672
4. Birdforum thread discussing taxonomy of Nightjars and Frogmouths.

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Grey Nightjar. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 24 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Grey_Nightjar

External Links

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