The great eared nightjar (''Lyncornis macrotis'') is a species of

nightjar Nightjars are medium-sized nocturnal or crepuscular birds in the family Caprimulgidae and order Caprimulgiformes, characterised by long wings, short legs, and very short bills. They are sometimes called bugeaters, their primary source of food ...

in the family Caprimulgidae. It is found in southwest India and in parts of

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

. This very large nightjar has long barred wings, a barred tail and long ear-tufts which are often recumbent. It has a white throat band but has no white on its wings or on its tail.

Taxonomy

The great eared nightjar was formally described in 1831 by the Irish zoologist

Nicholas Aylward Vigors Nicholas Aylward Vigors (1785 – 26 October 1840) was an Ireland, Irish zoologist and politician. He popularized the classification of birds on the basis of the quinarian system. Early life Vigors was born at Old Leighlin, County Carlow, in 1 ...

based on a sample collected in the neighbourhood of

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

in the Philippines. Vigors coined the

binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, altho ...

''Caprimulgus macrotis''. The great eared nightjar was formerly placed in the genus ''

Eurostopodus ''Eurostopodus'' is a genus of eared nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. This genus is distinctive among the Old World nightjars in lacking long rictal bristles. It also shows some features that are not shared with Caprimulginae and Chordeilina ...

''. It and the closely related Malaysian eared nightjar were moved to the resurrected genus '' Lyncornis'' based on the results of a

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

study published in 2010 that found large genetic differences between the great eared nightjar and other species in ''Eurostopodus''. The genus name ''Lyncornis'' combines the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

' / ' (meaning "lynx") with ', meaning "bird". The specific epithet ''macrotis'' is from the Ancient Greek ', meaning "long-eared" (from ' meaning "long" and ', ' meaning "ear"). Five

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

are recognised: * ''L. m. cerviniceps'' Gould, 1838 – Bangladesh and northeastern India to southern China,

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia (historically known as Indochina and the Indochinese Peninsula) is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to th ...

and northern

Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula is located in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area contains Peninsular Malaysia, Southern Tha ...

. * ''L. m. bourdilloni'' Hume, 1875 – southwestern India. * ''L. m. macrotis'' ( Vigors, 1831) – Philippines (except far west of

Visayas The Visayas ( ), or the Visayan Islands (Bisayan languages, Visayan: ''Kabisay-an'', ; Filipino language, Filipino: ''Kabisayaan'' ), are one of the three Island groups of the Philippines, principal geographical divisions of the Philippines, a ...

;

Palawan Palawan (, ), officially the Province of Palawan (; ), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in terms of total area of . The capital and largest c ...

group, and

Sulu Archipelago The Sulu Archipelago ( Tausug: Kapū'-pūan sin Sūg Sulat Sūg: , ) is a chain of islands in the Pacific Ocean, in the southwestern Philippines. The archipelago forms the northern limit of the Celebes Sea and southern limit of the Sulu Se ...

). * ''L. m. jacobsoni'' Junge, 1936 –

Simeulue Simeulue is an island of Indonesia, off the west coast of Sumatra. It covers an area of 1,754 square kilometre (677 square miles), including minor offshore islands. It had a population of 80,674 at the 2010 census and 92,865 at the 2020 census ...

(west of north

Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

). * ''L. m. macropterus'' Bonaparte, 1850 –

Sulawesi Sulawesi ( ), also known as Celebes ( ), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the List of islands by area, world's 11th-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Min ...

, Sangihe and

Talaud Islands The Talaud Islands Regency () is a Regency (Indonesia), regency of North Sulawesi province, Indonesia. The Talaud Islands form an archipelago situated to the northeast of the Minahasa Peninsula, with a land area of 1,251.02 km2. It had a populati ...

(northeast of Sulawesi), Banggai and Sula Island (east of Sulawesi).

Description

The great eared nightjar is the largest species in the family in terms of length, which can range from . Males weigh an average of and females weigh an average of , making it the second heaviest species in the family after the nacunda nighthawk.''CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses, 2nd Edition'' by John B. Dunning Jr. (Editor). CRC Press (2008), . The nightjar has grey-brown, mottled, streaked and stripey plumage. They also have pointed wings and long tails as well as short wide beaks that open to around 120°.

Distribution and habitat

It is found in South Asia and Southeast Asia with populations in the Western Ghats and

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

, the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

, and

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

is subtropical or moist lowland

tropical forest Tropical forests are forested ecoregions with tropical climates – that is, land areas approximately bounded by the Tropic of Cancer, tropics of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn, Capricorn, but possibly affected by other factors such as prevailing ...

Behaviour

Like other nightjars they are nocturnal, active at dusk and at night. They have a distinctive call which includes a sharp ''tsiik'' followed by a pause and a two-syllable ''ba-haaww''. Eurostopodus macrotis Gwillim.jpg, Painting by Elizabeth Gwillim c. 1801 Eurostopodus.jpg, Head of ''L. m. cerviniceps''

Breeding

The nest is a scrape on the ground and the clutch consists of a single egg. The chick is well camouflaged among

leaf litter Plant litter (also leaf litter, tree litter, soil litter, litterfall, or duff) is dead plant material (such as leaves, bark, needles, twigs, and cladodes) that has fallen to the ground. This detritus or dead organic material and its constituen ...

References

External links

Internet Bird Collection

Malayalam
great eared nightjar Birds of Bangladesh Birds of India Birds of Indonesia Birds of Laos Birds of Malaysia Birds of Myanmar Birds of Southeast Asia Birds of Sri Lanka Birds of Thailand Birds of the Philippines Birds of Vietnam great eared nightjar Nightjars Taxa named by Nicholas Aylward Vigors Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{caprimulgiformes-stub