Thai National Parks

The great eared nightjar (Lyncornis macrotis) is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is the largest species in the family in terms of length, which can range from 31 to 41 cm. Males weigh an average of 131 g and females weigh an average of 151 g so it the second heaviest species in the family after the nacunda nighthawk.

Distribution and habitat

It is found in Southeast Asia with populations in the Western Ghats and Sri Lanka Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Its natural habitat is subtropical or moist lowland tropical forests.

Behaviour

Like other nightjars they are 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.

Breeding

The nest is a scrape on the ground and the clutch consists of a single egg. The chicks are well camouflaged among leaf litter.

Taxonomy

Several populations are given subspecies status and include:

• the nominate form macrotis (Vigors, 1831) from the Philippines
• bourdilloni (Hume, 1875) of the Western Ghats
• cerviniceps (Gould, 1838) along the eastern Himalayas into Indochina and northern Malaysia
• jacobsoni (Junge, 1936) of Simeulue Island
• macropterus (Bonaparte, 1850) from the islands of Sulawesi, Talaud, Sangihe, Banggai and Sula

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