Jerdon's Nightjar

Jerdon's nightjar is a medium-sized nightjar about 26cm long, almost a head's length bigger than the Indian nightjar, from which it differs in its barred tail, rufous rear neck and wing bars. The plumage is variegated buff and brown with a finely marked, almost uniform crown and a blackish collar, and the male has a white patch on each wing. It was formerly treated as a subspecies of the long-tailed nightjar. Its call, like a wooden plank being struck, each note ending in a quaver, is the best clue (Wikipedia, general species account).

It lives in open woodland, scrub and cultivation and flies after sundown with a silent, fluttering flight, feeding on moths and other night insects. By day it lies motionless on the ground, hidden by its plumage. Unlike the Indian nightjar it seldom rests on roads at night, preferring bushes, so it is less often seen in headlights. No nest is made: two marbled eggs are laid on bare ground, and the chicks can crawl away to hide soon after hatching. SoIB 2023 treats it as endemic to the Indian subcontinent and resident, but gives no trend or priority (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).