Lyncornis macrotis
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The great eared nightjar (Lyncornis macrotis) is a species of nightjar in the genus Lyncornis. It is found in southwest India and in parts of Southeast Asia. This very large nightjar has long barred wings, a barred tail and long ear-tufts which are often recumbent. It has a white throat band but has no white on its wings or on its tail.
The great eared nightjar was formally described in 1831 by the Irish zoologist Nicholas Aylward Vigors based on a sample collected in the neighbourhood of Manila in the Philippines. Vigors coined the binomial name Caprimulgus macrotis. The great eared nightjar was formerly placed in the genus Eurostopodus. It and the closely related Malaysian eared nightjar were moved to the resurrected genus Lyncornis based on the results of a molecular phylogenetic study published in 2010 that found large genetic differences between the great eared nightjar and other species in Eurostopodus. The genus name Lyncornis combines the Ancient Greek λύγξ /lunx/ (meaning "lynx") with ὄρνις /ornis/, meaning "bird". The specific epithet macrotis is from the Ancient Greek μακρὦτης /makrōtēs/, meaning "long-eared" (from μακρός /makros/ meaning "long" and οὖς /ous/... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cat Tien National Park | 🇻🇳 Vietnam | |
| 2 | Tangkoko Nature Reserve | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 3 | Khao Yai National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 4 | Periyar National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 5 | Kaeng Krachan National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Great Eared-Nightjar sighting in Periyar National Park on a given day, based on 222 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 121st most-seen of the 227 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Great Eared-Nightjar in Periyar National Park on a given day, against under 5% in March to December, the lowest months. That is one of Periyar National Park's driest months, with about 25 mm of rain against 410 mm in August.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Great Eared-Nightjar sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
4th of 5
Of the 5 parks where we can rate Great Eared-Nightjar sightings, Periyar National Park ranks 4th at about 10%. The best odds are in Cat Tien National Park (Vietnam, about 30%), Tangkoko Nature Reserve (Indonesia, about 20%) and Khao Yai National Park (Thailand, about 20%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Great Eared-Nightjar is recorded against all the birds logged in Periyar National Park (222 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.
