Spotted Nightjar vs Brown Nightjar
Eurostopodus argus compared with Veles binotatus
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Attribute | Spotted Nightjar | Brown Nightjar |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific Name | Eurostopodus argus | Veles binotatus |
| Order | Caprimulgiformes | Caprimulgiformes |
| Family | Caprimulgidae | Caprimulgidae |
| Conservation Status | Least Concern | Least Concern |
| Length | — | — |
| Wingspan | 42.7 cm (16.8 in) | 29.8 cm (11.7 in) |
| Weight | 102.5 g (3.62 oz) | 63.0 g (2.22 oz) |
| Diet | Aerial insectivore; hawks large moths, beetles, and flying insects at dusk and dawn over Australian … | Nocturnal aerial insectivore; catches moths and flying insects over West and Central African forest. |
| Clutch Size | 1 | -- |
| Population Trend | — | — |
Habitat Comparison
Song & Call Comparison
Spotted Nightjar
Loud churring 'good-lord-deliver-us' repeated at dusk; melodic bubbling quality; also emits hollow 'cow-cow-cow' series and soft frog-like croaking
Brown Nightjar
Repeated 'pew-pew' or 'puu-puu'; mellow, hollow whistle from African rainforest; calls from dense canopy at night; soft and ventriloquial; alarm a sharp 'chik'
Geographic Range & Migration
Spotted Nightjar
Resident and partial migrant of open woodland, grassland, and scrub across mainland Australia and migrating to New Guinea and Indonesia in winter.
Brown Nightjar
Resident of lowland and submontane forest edge and clearings in West and Central Africa from Sierra Leone and Liberia east to DR Congo and Uganda.
Conservation Status
Spotted Nightjar
Brown Nightjar
How to Tell Them Apart
Spotted Nightjar
Cryptically mottled grey-brown, rufous, and black with intricate vermiculations; distinctive large white spots on wing coverts; white throat patch; no white in wings or tail. Sexes similar with slight pattern …
Brown Nightjar
Uniform dark rufous-brown with fine dark vermiculations; small pale buff wing spots; no white throat patch; no white tail markings; monotypic; very cryptic plumage matched to dark rainforest bark; West …
About These Birds
Spotted Nightjar
A medium Caprimulgidae nightjar (~103 g) of open woodland, spinifex grassland, and rocky ridges across mainland Australia. Intricately spotted and barred brown, grey, and buff. Cryptic by day on the ground among leaf litter. Crepuscular and nocturnal; feeds on flying insects caught in aerial pursuit. Least Concern.
Brown Nightjar
A medium-small Caprimulgidae nightjar (~63 g) of lowland and secondary forest in equatorial West Africa from Sierra Leone to Uganda. Uniformly dark brown above with a small white throat spot; plain compared with many nightjars. Nocturnal insectivore of forest understorey. Least Concern in its equatorial forest range.