Nightjar - a photo on Flickriver

Nightjar

            It is very rare indeed that I get an opportunity to study a Nightjar's head in detail but there are a few interesting things that can only be seen with a close view.  First look at those rictal bristles along the gape of the mouth.  It was long thought that they served to increase the catching area for birds like Nightjars that eat flying insects but birds that don't catch flying prey also have rictal bristles.  We still don't know what their function is but it seems likely that they have a sensory function for aerial speed and maybe orientation.  The second point of interest are those huge, separated nostrils that flare out like mini saxophones.  Tim Birkhead's excellent book Birdsense says that Nightjars have a well developed olfactory bulb in the brain, almost as large as petrels which have an amazing sense of smell.  The wide separation and development of the nostrils suggests that Nightjars can home-in on smells, but why would they need that and what are they homing in on?  Whenever I visit Nightjar habitats in the evening I can detect a characteristic smell, especially in the spring.  I'm not sure what the smell is, maybe birch trees, but perhaps night migrating Nightjars can detect this too and use it to locate suitable new habitats.  And finally look at the reflection in its large, half-closed eye.  It's like a tiny diorama of its habitat.
   

Taken on: July 24, 2022

Tags:

Caprimulgus europaeus

European

Peak

District

Tim Melling « less

Sets appears in: • British Birds

Stats: 5,877 views / 39 comments

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