Caprimulgus jotaka
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%
The grey nightjar (Caprimulgus jotaka; also "gray" in some non-local literature) is a species of nightjar found in East Asia, breeding from southeastern Russia south through China, the Korean Peninsula and Japan to northern Indochina and westward along the Himalayas. It is largely migratory, wintering in Indochina south to Java in Indonesia, but is resident in warmer areas in the south of its breeding range. It is sometimes treated as a subspecies of the jungle nightjar (C. indicus), its South Asian relative. The grey nightjar breeds and forages in early successional habitats surrounded by forests; its populations have declined since the 1970s in Japan. Like all nightjars, it is crepuscular to nocturnal, feeding on flying insects, including moths, beetles, flying ants, grasshoppers, and others.
The species was formally described in 1845 by Coenraad Jacob Temminck and Hermann Schlegel with the binomial name Caprimulgus jotaka based on specimens collected in Japan. The specific epithet is the Japanese word for the species, Yo taka meaning "night hawk". The grey nightjar was subsequently included as a subspecies of the jungle nightjar (C. indicus; also called grey nightjar... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Langtang National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 2 | Khao Sok National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 3 | Khao Yai National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 4 | Doi Inthanon National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 5 | Kaeng Krachan National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Gray Nightjar sighting in Doi Inthanon National Park on a given day, based on 24 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 290th most-seen of the 367 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, and over a week to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
October
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Gray Nightjar in Doi Inthanon National Park on a given day, against under 5% in November to September, the lowest months.
Between 7 and 10 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Gray Nightjar sightings with a recorded time, and about half of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is seen both by day and at night.
Among the best
Of the 5 parks where we can rate Gray Nightjar sightings, Doi Inthanon National Park ranks 4th at under 5%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Langtang National Park (Nepal, under 5%), Khao Sok National Park (Thailand, under 5%) and Khao Yai National Park (Thailand, under 5%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Gray Nightjar is recorded against all the birds logged in Doi Inthanon National Park (24 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
