Large-tailed Nightjar

The large-tailed nightjar is about 31.5–33 cm long, known for a long, broad tail and cryptic plumage that lets it blend into its surroundings. Males have a pale crown with a dark median stripe, and a prominent row of black scapular feathers bordered by broad buff or whitish-buff fringes. Its range runs along the southern Himalayan foothills, eastern South Asia and Southeast Asia to northern Australia (Wikipedia, general species account).

It lives in subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, mangrove forest and moist montane forest. The female builds no nest but lays one or two pinkish-buff to pale yellow eggs in a shallow depression in leaf litter, and the chicks have mealy brown feathers that give good camouflage. Its distinctive, monotonous song, given to assert territory, can be heard all year, though vocal activity varies with breeding, density and moon phase. SoIB 2023 lists it as a resident and local migrant of forest that eats invertebrates, and does not assign a priority category (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).