Great Eared Nightjar

The great eared nightjar is the largest nightjar by length, 31–41 cm, and the second heaviest of the family, males averaging 131 g and females 151 g. It has long barred wings, a barred tail and long ear tufts that are often flat, with grey-brown mottled and streaked plumage and a white throat band but no white on the wings or tail. The wings are pointed, the tail long, and the short wide beak opens to around 120° (Wikipedia, general species account).

It is found in south-west India, in the Western Ghats, and in parts of Southeast Asia. It is nocturnal, active at dusk and at night, and its call is a sharp tsiik followed by a pause and a two-syllable ba-haaww. The nest is a scrape on the ground with a clutch of one egg, and the chick is well camouflaged among leaf litter. SoIB 2023 lists it as a resident and summer migrant of forest that eats invertebrates, and does not assign a priority category (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).