Bird Guide

Dusky Nightjar

Antrostomus saturatus

Least ConcernInvertebratesForestScrapeSmall · 52 g

About the Dusky Nightjar

The dusky nightjar or dusky whip-poor-will is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is found in Costa Rica and Panama.

Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

ID tip

The dusky nightjar is 21 to 25 cm (8.3 to 9.8 in) long. A male weighed 52.9 g (1.9 oz) and a female 51 g (1.8 oz). The adult male's upperparts are sooty black with fine reddish cinnamon spots and bars. Much of the face is also reddish cinnamon. The central tail feathers are sooty black with reddish cinnamon bars; the outer three pairs have wide white tips and less barring. The wings are blackish with reddish cinnamon bars. The throat and breast are sooty black with scattered white spots and have a narrow band of white and buff separating them. Voice: The male dusky nightjar's song is "a trilled, double-noted whistle prurrr prureee or prurrrr prruwhip". It is sung mostly during the breeding season, from a perch and rarely from the ground, and may be sung throughout moonlit nights. A flight call is described as "a scratchy wheer."

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Where the Dusky Nightjar lives

Regular range

When to see the Dusky Nightjar

Peak activity in March · a variable species across most of its range

Easily confused with

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