When the dim, shadowy silence of the leaf-litter suddenly takes wing, it’s either a ghost or a nightjar that sets your heart racing. Our search that began in the hunt for a peacock feather took us to the adorable Large-tailed Nightjar
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The Large Tailed Nightjar wrapped up in silence. Notice the white frill on the throat; in some individuals it is supposedly prominent enough to be called a throat patch |
“The first bird I searched for was the nightjar, which used to nest in the valley. Its song is like the sound of a stream of wine spilling from a height into a deep and booming cask. It is an odorous sound, with a bouquet that rises to the quiet sky. In the glare of day it would seem thinner and drier, but dusk mellows it and gives it vintage. If a song could smell, this song would smell of crushed grapes and almonds and dark wood.
The sound spills out, and none of it is lost. The whole wood brims with it. Then it stops. Suddenly, unexpectedly. But the ear hears it still, a prolonged and fading echo, draining and winding out among the surrounding trees”.
– J.A. Baker (The Peregrine)
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The peafowl feather that led us to the nightjar |
It all started over a feather.
Voice from the bushes: “This feather does not belong to the peacock”
Me: “Then?”
Voice from the bushes: “It belongs to a brown bird!”
Me: (Convinced he has seen a Peafowl fledgling) “It’s the young one you are looking at.”
Voice from the bushes: “No, it flew.”
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Excellent camouflage – the bird is strongly patterned yet merges with the leaf litter |
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The beautiful liquid eye, the thin broad bill and the whiskers |
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The breast has a neat parting and a mottled appearance. The buff edges of the scapulars create the side wing-bars. |
The tail was thick and square; the primaries crossed over the back had thick rounded ends. A very prominent white stripe ran from the base of the beak across the face and below the eye. The feathers of the chest were neatly cloven and gave off a very mottled appearance (the general pattern being close to that of Mottled Wood Owls). The colors were shades of grays, buff and browns, with some black on the scapulars prominently edged with buff. There was a very prominent horizontal frill or “white beard” just above the parting of chest feathers. This is also described as a prominent white throat patch in some accounts but it appeared more as a frilly bib to me.
The roosts were all in well-sheltered places — the sort of nooks where one might walk past without peering in.
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This roost is against a masonry wall and below a thick bush. There is no approach from three sides. |
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A neat nook amid reeds – thick vegetation covers it almost entirely. The Nightjar was in the small cave-like opening in the middle. |
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Against an overgrown bank — this was my best view. The first and the third picture from the top are from this roost. |
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This may be a nightjar feather — can’t be certain, though. Any guesses? |
Towards the end of the week I saw the Large-tailed Nightjar much better, especially if it was present in one of the roosts. I tried to locate more individuals in the garden but had no luck before alarming the birds into flight. Also, I never spotted it at night. Some nightjars are known to sit on roads at night but I never encountered the Large-tailed Nightjar along the roads near the garden, or any path in the garden itself. It’s quite possible that this species does not take to the roads — though I will have to continue to look.
Text and photographs by Sahastrarashmi
Read all Encounter posts
- Encounter: The Sacred Grove at Oorani - November 28, 2012
- Encounter: Rhododendron, sentinel of the highlands - October 7, 2012
- Manjhi Akshayavat, an immortal Banyan tree - July 17, 2012
Thank you, Dr Taher. Glad you enjoyed the post.
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