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Bates's Nightjar (Caprimulgus batesi)

Bates's Nightjar
Photo: John Gerrard Keulemans via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain — free for commercial reuse.

About the Bates's Nightjar

Bates's nightjar (Caprimulgus batesi) or the forest nightjar, is a bird species of the family Caprimulgidae, native to the Congolian rainforests. Bates's nightjar is a large, dark nightjar. At rest looks large headed and long tailed. The upperparts and wing coverts are dark brown marked with black and buff streaks and spots, with a normally indistinct buff collar on the hindneck which may be more obvious on some individuals. The underparts are blackish brown with buff speckling on the breast, becoming barred on the belly, the throat is whitish. In flight the male shows a small white spot towards the wingtip and white tips to the two outer tail feathers. The female is paler and lack white spots on the wings or outer tail. They measure 29–31 cm in length and weigh 89–112g.

Source: Bates's nightjar on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA
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No audio on this page yet

We only publish recordings we may use commercially, because this site is supported by ads. xeno-canto lists 15 recordings for this species: 5 CC BY-NC-SA. None of them permits commercial use, so there is no player here — the page is kept as a profile so the bird is not missing from the guide.

As soon as someone uploads a freely licensed recording, we mirror it and the player appears here.

Listed as recorded in Gabon, Uganda in the xeno-canto catalogue.

Related species you can hear

This species has no recording here yet — these relatives do, so you can hear what the family sounds like.