Papuan Nightjar vs Brown Nightjar
Eurostopodus papuensis compared with Veles binotatus
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Attribute | Papuan Nightjar | Brown Nightjar |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific Name | Eurostopodus papuensis | Veles binotatus |
| Order | Caprimulgiformes | Caprimulgiformes |
| Family | Caprimulgidae | Caprimulgidae |
| Conservation Status | Least Concern | Least Concern |
| Length | — | — |
| Wingspan | 37.9 cm (14.9 in) | 29.8 cm (11.7 in) |
| Weight | 80.5 g (2.84 oz) | 63.0 g (2.22 oz) |
| Diet | Hawks large flying insects, especially moths, at night over Papuan forest and savanna. | Nocturnal aerial insectivore; catches moths and flying insects over West and Central African forest. |
| Clutch Size | 1 | -- |
| Population Trend | — | — |
Habitat Comparison
Song & Call Comparison
Papuan Nightjar
Churring, repetitive nocturnal call; soft bubbling trill; melodic series of hollow notes; calls from low perch or ground in New Guinea lowland forest
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
Papuan Nightjar
Resident of savanna woodland, grass, and scrub in lowland New Guinea (Papua, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea).
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
Papuan Nightjar
Brown Nightjar
How to Tell Them Apart
Papuan Nightjar
Dark grey-brown finely vermiculated with buff and black; pale buff and rufous throat patch; pale supercilium; no white wing patches; tail barred brown and buff; cryptically patterned bark-mimicking plumage.
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
Papuan Nightjar
A small Caprimulgidae nightjar (~81 g) of lowland savanna, grassland, and forest edges across the southern lowlands of New Guinea. Cryptic buff-and-brown plumage; white-spotted wings visible in flight. Nocturnal aerial insectivore. Commonly heard at night but rarely seen by day. 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.