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Our Nightjar logo
Photo © Joe Banton
Elusive, distinctive and closely tied to the region’s heathland landscapes, the European Nightjar is a fitting symbol of the West Midland Bird Club and the values it stands for.
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Why the European Nightjar?
The European Nightjar is the bird at the heart of the West Midland Bird Club logo.
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We chose the European Nightjar as its logo because it is one of the region’s most evocative and distinctive birds, closely associated with the heathlands and open woodlands of the West Midlands.
With its cryptic plumage, nocturnal habits, and unmistakable churring song on summer evenings, the Nightjar captures the sense of mystery and excitement that birdwatching can inspire.
It is also a species whose presence reflects the importance of careful habitat management and conservation, values central to the Club’s aims.
As a locally significant bird that rewards patience, knowledge, and dedication to observe, the European Nightjar is a fitting emblem for a club devoted to the study, enjoyment, and protection of birds in the region.
Summary
Nightjars are a nocturnal species that visit the UK every summer to breed and to take advantage of our abundance of night flying insects and moths. With pointed wings and long tails, their shape is similar to a Kestrel or Cuckoo. Their grey-brown, mottled, streaked and stripey plumage provides ideal camouflage in the daytime.
Identification
Cryptically plumaged and ability to sit motionless on the ground or along branches make these birds extremely challenging to see in their daytime roost. They have a small mouth which is very wide with bristles lining the gape to aid capture of prey mid flight, large dark eyes and a flat head it is one strange looking bird. Mainly active from dusk hunting moths and other night flying insects. The male European Nightjar occupies a territory in spring and advertises his presence with a distinctive sustained churring trill from a perch. He patrols his territory with wings held in a V and tail fanned, chasing intruders while wing-clapping and calling. Wing clapping also occurs when the male chases the female in a spiralling display flight.
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The flight on long pointed wings is noiseless, due to their soft plumage, and very buoyant flight. Flying birds can be sexed since the male has a white wing patch across three primary feathers and white tips to the two outer tail feathers, whereas females do not show any white in flight. Chicks have downy brown and buff plumage, and the fledged young are similar in appearance to the adult female. Adults moult their body feathers from June onwards after breeding, suspend the process while migrating, and replace the tail and flight feathers on the wintering grounds. Moult is completed between January and March. Immature birds follow a similar moult strategy to the adults unless they are from late broods, in which case the entire moult may take place in Africa.
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Nightjar Song
Call / Sound
The male’s churring has a mechanical feel, like a strange clockwork toy steadily unwinding, the constant notes gently rising and falling through the half-light. They often move their head as they call, throwing their voice and making it difficult to locate exactly where they are. As if to make things even more eerie, the churring is often combined with a percussive flapping of the wings.
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The male European nightjar's song is delivered from a perch, and the male may move around its territory using different song posts. Singing is more frequent at dawn and dusk than during the night, and is reduced in poor weather. The song may end with a bubbling trill and wing-clapping, perhaps indicating the approach of a female. Migrating or wintering birds sometimes sing. Individual male nightjars can be identified by analysing the rate and length of the pulses in their songs. Even a singing male may be hard to locate; the perched bird is difficult to spot in low light conditions, and the song has a ventriloquial quality as the singer turns his head. The song is easily audible at 200 m (660 ft), and can be heard at 600 m (2,000 ft) in good conditions; it can be confused with the very similar sound of the European mole cricket.
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The female does not sing, but when on the wing, both sexes give a short cuick, cuick call, also used when chasing predators. Other calls include variations on a sharp chuck when alarmed, hisses given by adults when handled or chicks when disturbed, and an assortment of wuk, wuk, wuk, muffled oak, oak and murmurs given at the nest. Large young have a threat display with the mouth opened wide while hissing loudly.
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Despite the name, wing-clapping does not involve contact between the two wing tips over the bird's back as was once thought. The sound is produced in a whiplash-like way as each wing cracks down.
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Nightjar Churring in Tree
Scott Upton
Nightjar Hawking
Scott Upton
Stafford
DATE: 4th Wednesday of every month - September through to April inclusive
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TIME: All indoor meetings start at 19.30
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WHERE: St. Oswald’s Church Centre, off Broadwaters Drive, Kidderminster DY10 2RY - O/S Grid ref: SO841779
Google Map
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PARKING: There is a large car park near to the church centre.
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ADMISSION: Members £2.00 / Non Members £2.50 including refreshments
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: The venue is fully accessible to wheelchair users and committee members are available from 18.45 to discuss birding and branch matters.
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CONTACT: Branch Chairperson - Situation Vacant kidderminster@westmidlandbirdclub.org.uk
UK Distribution & Habitat
Nightjars are a summer visitor to the UK. They’re usually one of the last migrants to arrive in late April and May, with most travelling up from the scrub grasslands of the Democratic Republic of Congo. They come here to breed in areas that are dry, open with scattered trees and bushes such as heathlands, moorlands, woodland clearings and in recently felled conifer plantations.
They nest on bare ground or leaf litter without building a traditional nest. They’re most numerous in southern England but are also found in parts of Wales, northern England and southwestern Scotland.
By late August and September most Nightjars have left the UK, heading back over mountains, seas and desert to their Sub-Saharan wintering grounds.
Distribution in the WMBC Area
Uncommon to frequent, but very local summer resident, mainly on Cannock Chase. Rare passage migrant. Cannock Chase is certainly the primary site for this species in our region with regular records in suitable habitat throughout May, June and July. Returning birds usually arrive in early May and late records stretch into mid August.
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In recent years, partly due to more observer coverage, birds have been found in the breeding season in other areas of Staffordshire where suitable habitat exists. Sites such as Hanchurch Woods, Bishop’s Wood and Shugborough Hall have held birds in recent years. Encouragingly Worcestershire and West Midlands regions have held churring birds in recent years at sites including Lickey Hills and Sutton Park.
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The use of thermal imagers and regular visits to suitable habitat in the breeding season can lead to birds being found in areas away from the usual Cannock Chase stronghold.
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Myths
As a nocturnal bird, which is rarely seen, and combined with its unusual song the Nightjar has become a source of myth and legend.
The Nightjar is known by many names – the Fern Owl, the Wheeler, the Nightchurr and the Dor-Hawk. But the oddest is surely the Goatsucker.
Long ago it was thought Nightjars would drink milk directly from goats, poisoning them so their udders wasted away and they went blind. The myth was once common in many countries all over Europe, not just in the UK.
The truth...is less dramatic. Nightjars were probably coming close to the livestock because they were hunting the many insects close by.
Facts & Figures
Conservation Status
Diet
Beak
Feather
Leg
Length
Weight
Wingspan
Habitat
UK Breeding BIrds
Eggs
Scarce
Insects - moths and beetles
Black
Cream / buff, brown, grey, white
Brown
26-28cm
65-100g
57-64cm
Young woodland, heathland
4,600 males
2 camouflaged eggs, typically 2 broods per annum
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Become a member
As a WMBC member, you get access to our reserves, invitations to indoor and outdoor birdwatching activities, our quarterly newsletter, and the annual bird report and much more. Enjoy bird photography, see rare species, and connect with fellow bird enthusiasts in our vibrant community.
