Search

The article provides photographic evidence of a White-throated Nightjar Eurostopodus mystacalis flying low above the sea in the Gulf of Carpentaria, Queensland, on August 25, 2010. Nightjars behaving similarly in the same area in the days before obtaining the conclusive photographs are also observed. It suggests that the Nightjars were on southerly migration, returning from their wintering sojourn in New Guinea to their breeding grounds in Australia. It also cites other relevant sightings and discusses the significance of this behaviour.

The article discusses the discovery of a Grey Nightjar Caprimulgus indicus bird aboard the Australian Customs Vessel (ACV) Storm Bay anchored at Ashmore Reef within the Australian Economic Exclusion Zone on December 25, 2003. Considered as the first sighting of the bird and inclusion in the revised checklist of the Birds Australia Rarities Committee (BARC), the structural and plumage features of the bird are reported including how its tail extends well beyond its wings at rest. A photograph of the bird is presented, emphasizing the strange looking tertials in its wings.

The article discusses the first confirmed record of the white-throated nightjar Eurostopodus mystacalis' occurrence in South Australia. It notes that the record was gathered at the Tasmanian Blue Gum Eucalyptus globulus plantation having an open ground of spiny-headed mat-rush Lomandra longifolia and austral bracken fern Pteridium esculentum. It says that the nightjar's condition in the region is undetermined due to the lack of nocturnal surveys during summer 2007. It comments that the nightjar's existence in the region is the result of atypical migration movements in response to the prolonged dry conditions.