With their enceinte , sinister oculus , elusive nature , and unusual sounding claim , it ’s no wonderment European nightjars ( Caprimulgus europaeus ) are steeped in folklore . While they ’re probably not as supernatural as they seem , there ’s still an air travel of mystery surrounding them – so what do we really know about the caprimulgid ?
Masters of camouflage
We would argue that they ’re quite pretty , but there ’s no abnegate that goatsucker are at least a turn odd - looking . Though often compare tokestrelsin terms of shape , their petite beaks and wide mouth look jolly out of proportion with the relief of them .
Nightjars are , however , masters of camo . Their feathers are a dappled greyish - brown that resembles tree diagram bark , appropriate them to blend in with their surroundings during the sidereal day . Couple that with the fact that they’renocturnaland have silent escape , and the opportunity of spotting one become middling slim .
Seeing is hearing
Though they ’re called European goatsucker , these birds actuallyspend most of the yearin Africa , primarily in the grasslands of the Democratic Republic of the Congo . Then , in previous April and May , they make their path to Europe , where they settle on open land like heaths , Moor , and woodland glade .
Within those regions , the best stakes at trance a glimpse of a caprimulgid first involves using your ears . Get yourself on a heath at crepuscule , when they start to become active , and you may well learn virile goatsucker churring . If you conceive this unique Lionel Trilling does n’t sound like it comes from a raspberry , you ’re not the only one ; it was once believed the male nightjar ’s call was actually the speech sound ofwitches hiding in bushes .
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Mom of the year
On their arrival in Europe , nightjarsget busy . Between later May and August , they usually think of two brood , each consist of two eggs . forego a nest , a distaff caprimulgid lays their eggs on the ground . Though that might seem a tad wild , the eggs are barque - colored , which help to camouflage them .
Normally , new goatsucker fly the nest around two weeks after they dream up , but something quite unexpected happen to a caprimulgid doll on the UK goggle box seriesSpringwatchin June last twelvemonth .
The syllabus had been follow a female nightjar and her late hatched chicks . During some nighttime visual sense footage get the previous eventide , it appeared as though the mother bird had returned to her nest to feed in the wench , with her chief shown to be bob up and down .
But then she change state around and as presenterChris Packhamdescribed : “ She ’s eating her own chick alive , and she swallows it whole . ”
Whilstchowing down on your progeny , known as filial cannibalism , is n’t precisely rare in the animate being world , this does n’t seem to be typical behavior for caprimulgid . As Packham explain to TV audience , the program ’s squad had spoken to experts on the matter and gone through scientific reports , and could n’t happen another example of a distaff goatsucker eat their unseasoned .
It ’s not the only irregular food seed that ’s been associated with nightjars either . Their genus name , Caprimulgus , means “ goatsucker ” in Latin . That ’s because some used to think that nightjars drank directly from laughingstock ’ bag and stopped them from producing milk . In all likelihood , they were actually just nosh on the dirt ball surrounding the goat .
Justice for the nightjar , we say .
