Animalia Life

Aegotheles cristatus
TAXONOMY
Caprimulgus cristatus Shaw Smith & Hunter, 1790, New South Wales. Two subspecies.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
English: Owlet-nightjar, crested owlet-nightjar; French: Йgothиle d’Australie; German: Baumschwalm; Spanish: Egotelo Australiano.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
8.3–10 in (21–25 cm); 1.4–2.1 oz (39–60 g). Upperparts are dark gray with pales lines and spots; underparts are paler with narrow brown lines. Sexes often similar but females vary between a gray morph and a rufous morph (with intermediates). The extreme rufous morph does not seem to occur in males, although intermediate males are known.
DISTRIBUTION
Australia, Tasmania, and southeastern New Guinea.
HABITAT
Open forests, woodlands, scrub, and mangroves.
BEHAVIOR
Sedentary in pairs. Roosts by day, usually in tree holes.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Feeds mainly on insects, most of which are caught by swooping (sallying) to ground from low perch.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Nests in hole, usually in tree. Clutches of two to five white eggs laid between August and December. Young hatch with white down which is replaced by gray down before juvenal feathers grow. Incubation period 25–27 days, fledging period usually 21–29 days.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not threatened, although suffers mortality from domestic cats and road kills.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
Mentioned in the legends of aboriginal Australians.

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