Caprimulgus atripennis
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
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. The common name commemorates Thomas C. Jerdon who described the species.
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. Subsequently, it was sometimes 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. Jerdon's type locality mentioned as Ghauts has been considered to be the Eastern Ghats west of Nellore.
Like other nightjars, it has a wide gape, long wings, soft downy plumage and nocturnal habits. At 26 cm in overall length... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yala National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 2 | Wilpattu National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 3 | Minneriya National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 4 | Mudumalai National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 5 | Udawalawe National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 6 | Periyar National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 7 | Nagarhole National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 8 | Bandipur National Park | 🇮🇳 India |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Jerdon's Nightjar sighting in Udawalawe National Park on a given day, based on 45 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 114th most-seen of the 166 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.
December
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Jerdon's Nightjar in Udawalawe National Park on a given day, against under 5% in January, March, May–June and August–October, the lowest months.
Between 2 and 5 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Jerdon's Nightjar sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
Among the best
Of the 8 parks where we can rate Jerdon's Nightjar sightings, Udawalawe National Park ranks 5th at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Yala National Park (Sri Lanka, about 10%), Wilpattu National Park (Sri Lanka, about 10%) and Minneriya National Park (Sri Lanka, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Jerdon's Nightjar is recorded against all the birds logged in Udawalawe National Park (45 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.
