The jungle nightjar (Caprimulgus indicus ) is a species of nightjar found in the Indian Subcontinent. It is found mainly on the edge of forests where it is seen or heard at dusk. The taxonomy of this and related nightjars is complex and a range of treatments have been followed that cover this and several other nightjars in the Asian region. It was formerly called the grey nightjar or Indian jungle nightjar and sometimes included the East Asian grey nightjar (C. jotaka ) as a subspecies.
The jungle nightjar is about 21–24 cm long with the Sri Lankan population (ssp. kelaarti ) being smaller. Mostly grey with black streaks on the crown, it lacks a conspicuous wing patch which is rufous. The tail is greyish with well separated narrow black bars. The male has a white throat patch that is broken at the middle. The female has a rufous throat patch and submoustachial streaks. The usual call is a series of thacoo or chuck notes (at the rate of 5 every 2 seconds) like a distant engine. The song is a slow and regular, series of FWik-m notes, repeated for as long as 10 seconds. This sometimes ends in quick whistling foo-foo with the quality of sounds obtained when air is blown over an open bottle. A call described as uk-krukroo attributed to this species by Ali and Ripley in their Handbook is in error and is the call of the Oriental scops owl (Otus sunia ).
The jungle nightjar becomes active at dusk, often over hilly grassland or scrub, perching regularly at favourite prominent bare posts or rocks. It roosts in trees, perching lengthwise along a branch. The breeding season in India is January to June and March to July in Sri Lanka. The nest is a bare patch on the ground in which two eggs are laid. Both parents incubate the eggs for about 16 to 17 days.
