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Project Noah Nature School
Caprimulgus europaeus
Nocturnal bird sleeping on the gravel road. Great camouflage.
Gravel road, mixed wood and meadowland.
The European Nightjar feeds on a wide variety of flying insects, which it catches in flight, often fly-catching from a perch. It hunts by sight silhouetting its prey against the night sky. It has relatively large eyes each with a reflective layer which improves night vision. It appears not to rely on its hearing to find insects and does not echolocate. It drinks and bathes on the wing.
You are right. Very tiny.... I have to do a research later on what it easts. Does not seem lite it is designed to crack seeds..
It is a matter of temperature Daniele, or lack of temperature perhaps :) Five weeks was good enough :)
You're welcome Tina. It's great that you're already back there: you really can't keep away from this continent :-)
Oh that is great Daniele, I really like that this little thing flew so far, just to relax on this road! It is quite fantastic to be able to do night safari on my own, a whole new world is showing itself to me. Thank you for the support for now, I will update the ID in a few days! (When I am back online)...
Hi Tina! Of the nightjars (Caprimulgis sp.) present in the south of Africa, the Eurasian Nightjar matches this one best to my eyes, in particular with respect to face and wing markings. These are winter visitors to Africa. See what others say :-)
I cant tell etiher right now. My field guide is not with me atm... And I have a limited time on the internet, so I have to prio uploads over searching for IDs :(
Thank you for the suggestion :))
looks like a whip-poor-will, though i'm not sure if they're found in swaziland
Spotted on Feb 24, 2014
Submitted on Feb 26, 2014
+5
