Animalia Life
Caprimulgus macrurus
SUBFAMILY
Caprimulginae
TAXONOMY
Caprimulgus macrurus Horsfield, 1821, Java. Seven subspecies.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
English: Horsfield’s or long-tailed nightjar; French: Engoulevent
de Horsfield; German: Langschwanz-Nachtschwalbe;
Spanish: Chotacabras Macruro.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
10–13 in (25–33 cm); 1.9–2.7 oz (55–78 g). Grayish brown,
blackish brown, buff, and white cryptic coloration. Sexually dimorphic.
DISTRIBUTION
Southern Asia from northeast Pakistan to Hainan, south
through East Indies to northern and eastern Australia.
HABITAT
Open forests, woodland, scrub, and plantations.
BEHAVIOR
Roosts during daytime, usually on ground. Active from dusk
until before dawn. Territorial song a monotonous “t-chop” repeated
in long series.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Hunts for insect prey using prolonged hawking flights and by
shorter sallying flights from perches or ground.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Unlined nest on ground with clutch of two eggs. Incubation at
least mainly by female. Eggs are pale cream to dull buff with
blackish brown spots. Incubation period is 21–22 days; fledging
period is about three weeks. Small young have buff down.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not threatened.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
Noticed mainly by nocturnal song, from which local names
such as axe-, carpenter-, or hammer-bird are derived.
Photo Gallery of - Large-tailed nightjar
