Editing Jerdon's nightjar

{{Short description|Species of bird}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Jerdon's Nightjar (Caprimulgus atripennis) by Shantanu Kuveskar.jpg
| image_caption = ''C. a. atripennis''
Mangaon, Raigad, Maharashtra
| image2 = CaprimulgusAtripennis.ogg
| image2_caption = Calls
| genus = Caprimulgus
| species = atripennis
| authority = [[Thomas C. Jerdon|Jerdon]], 1845
| range_map = CaprimulgusAtripennisMap.svg
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name=IUCN>{{cite iucn |title=''Caprimulgus atripennis'' |author=BirdLife International |author-link=BirdLife International |year=2016 |page=e.T22689931A93253085 |access-date=27 October 2021}}</ref>
}}
'''Jerdon's nightjar''' ('''''Caprimulgus atripennis''''') is a medium-sized [[nightjar]] [[species]] native to southern [[India]] and [[Sri Lanka]]. Formerly considered as a subspecies of the [[long-tailed nightjar]], it is best recognized by its distinctive call which sounds like a wooden plank being beaten periodically with each note ending in a quaver.<ref name = grimmettetal1999>{{cite book |author=Grimmett, R. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Inskipp, C. |author3=Inskipp, T. |author4=Byers, C. |year=1999 |title=Birds of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton, NJ |isbn=0-691-04910-6  |pages=|chapter= |chapter-url=}}</ref> The common name commemorates [[Thomas C. Jerdon]] who described the species.<ref>{{cite book|last=Beolens|first=B. |title=Whose Bird? Men and Women Commemorated in the Common Names of Birds |year=2003|publisher=Christopher Helm |location=London|pages=180–181 |author2=Watkins, M.l.}}</ref>

==Taxonomy==
[[File:Jerdon’s nightjar (Caprimulgus atripennis aequabilis).jpg|thumb|''C. a. aequabilis''<br>[[Sri Lanka]]|left]]
[[Thomas C. Jerdon]] first described this species in an annotation to his 1845 treatment of the [[jungle nightjar]] (''C. indicus'') in the ''Illustrations of Indian ornithology''.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/stream/illustrationsofi00jerd#page/n138/mode/1up|page=138|author=Jerdon, T.C.| title=Illustrations of Indian ornithology, containing fifty figures of new, unfigured and interesting species of birds, chiefly from the south of India| year=1847| publisher=American Mission Press|place=Madras}}</ref> Subsequently, it was sometimes [[lumpers and splitters|lumped]] again with ''C. macrurus'', but the co-occurrence of this form and [[large-tailed nightjar]] ''C. macrurus'' without interbreeding in the northeast of the Indian peninsula was noted in 1987 suggesting their distinctness. It has since been reaffirmed as a full species based on studies of their vocalizations.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Ripley|first1=Sidney Dillon|last2=Beehler|first2=Bruce M.|year= 1987|title= New evidence for sympatry in the sibling species ''Caprimulgus atripennis'' Jerdon and ''Caprimulgus macrurus'' Horsfield|journal=Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club|volume=107|pages=47–49}}</ref> The subspecies in Sri Lanka is ''C. a. aequabilis''.<ref name="sangster">{{cite journal|last1=Sangster|first1= G. |first2=F. G.|last2=Rozendaal|title= Systematic notes on Asian birds. 41. Territorial songs and species-level taxonomy of nightjars of the ''Caprimulgus macrurus'' complex, with the description of a new species| journal= Zoologische Verhandelingen |volume=350| year= 2004|pages=7–45|url=http://www.repository.naturalis.nl/document/43935 |format=PDF}}</ref> Jerdon's [[type locality (biology)|type locality]] mentioned as ''Ghauts'' has been considered to be the [[Eastern Ghats]] west of Nellore.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Cleere, N. |year=2002 |title=The original citation of Jerdon's Nightjar ''Caprimulgus atripennis'' (Caprimulgidae) |journal=[[Forktail (journal)|Forktail]] |volume=18 |issue= |pages=147 |url=http://www.orientalbirdclub.org/publications/forktail/18pdfs/Cleere-Nightjar.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081011022634/http://www.orientalbirdclub.org/publications/forktail/18pdfs/Cleere-Nightjar.pdf |archive-date=2008-10-11 }}</ref><ref name="hbk">{{cite book|last1=Ali|first1=S. |last2=Ripley| first2=S.D. |year=1983| pages=18–19 |title= Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan|edition=Second |publisher=Oxford University Press |place=New Delhi}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|hdl=10088/14891| title= A synopsis of the races of the long-tailed goatsucker, ''Caprimulgus macrurus'' Horsfield| last= Oberholser| first=H.C.| year= 1915| journal= Proceedings of the United States National Museum| volume=48|issue=2088|pages=587–599 |doi=10.5479/si.00963801.48-2088.587 |url=http://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/14536/1/USNMP-48_2088_1915.pdf}}</ref>

==Description==
Like other nightjars, it has a wide gape, long wings, soft downy plumage and nocturnal habits. At 26&nbsp;cm in overall length, it is almost a head's length larger than the [[Indian nightjar]] (''C. asiaticus''), and differs from that species in its barred tail, rufous rear neck, and wing bars. The vermiculations on the crown are fine giving it a nearly uniform shade. The collar is blackish. The male has a white patch on each wing. Otherwise, their [[crypsis|cryptic]] plumage is mainly variegated buff and brown, as typical for the dark [[tropical]] woodland nightjars.<ref name = grimmettetal1999 /> This has an unbroken white gorget like the long-tailed nightjar but the tail is shorter. The Sri Lankan ''aequabilis'' is slightly smaller and darker.<ref>{{cite journal|volume =65| journal= Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club | year=1945 |author=Ripley, S. Dillon| title=A new Race of Nightjar from Ceylon|url=https://archive.org/stream/bulletinofbritis65tayl#page/40/mode/2up/|pages=40–41}}</ref><ref name=pcr>{{cite book|author=Rasmussen PC|author2=JC Anderton|name-list-style=amp| year=2005| title= Birds of South Asia. The Ripley Guide. Volume 2|publisher=Smithsonian Institution and Lynx Edicions|place= Washington DC and Barcelona|page=254}}</ref>

Its typical call is a fast repetitive ''ch-woo-woo''.<ref name = grimmettetal1999 /> Another call is said to be a frog-like croak.<ref name=pcr/>

==Behaviour and ecology==
Open woodland, scrub, and cultivation is the habitat of this [[nocturnal]] bird. It flies after sundown with an easy, silent fluttering flight, appearing a bit like an outsized [[moth]] at a casual glance. During the day, Jerdon's nightjar lies silent upon the ground, concealed by its plumage; it is then difficult to detect, blending in with the soil.<ref name = grimmettetal1999 />

Nocturnal insects, such as [[moth]]s, are its food. Unlike the [[Indian nightjar]] (''C. asiaticus''), this species rarely rests on roads during the night, preferring to alight on bushes. This makes it harder to spot, since it is not so readily seen in vehicle headlights.<ref name = grimmettetal1999 /> It however roosts on the ground although calling from the trees.<ref name=pcr/>

The breeding season is March to July in India and February to May in Sri Lanka. No nest is made; the two marbled eggs are placed upon the bare ground. The brooding bird, covering them closely with its [[crypsis|camouflage plumage]], is their best protection.<ref name = grimmettetal1999 /> The chicks can crawl away from the nest soon after hatching and hide among leaves when alarmed.<ref name=hbk/>

== Conservation ==
Jerdon's nightjar has been listed as [[Least-concern species|Least Concern]] on the [[IUCN Red List]] since 2004, as it has a large range, and the population trend is considered stable.<ref name=IUCN/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://ibc.lynxeds.com/species/jerdons-nightjar-caprimulgus-atripennis Photographs and other media]

{{Taxonbar|from=Q1151433}}

[[Category:Caprimulgus|Jerdon's nightjar]]
[[Category:Birds of India]]
[[Category:Birds of Sri Lanka]]
[[Category:Birds described in 1845|Jerdon's nightjar]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Thomas C. Jerdon]]