Decoding the nightjar !

March 10, 2019. A team from Chandigarh comprising Mr Arvind Syal, Mr Rakesh Suthar, Mr Navtej Singh and me arrive at Kaelsar in Yamunangar District of Haryana specifically to click pictures of crimson and purple sunbirds that flock there to sip nectar from purple colour wild flowers. There the team was joined by Dr Rajiv Kalsi Professor and Head Department of Zoology M.L.N. College Yamuna Nagar and   Dr Janak Chowdhary, a renowned ENT Specialist who loves to do micro photography of tiny insects and spiders.  The sun was up and hot . The time was about 09 30 hours. 

While we were focusing our cameras to get good pictures of sunbirds, our eyes   fell on a  bird sitting motionless in the thick  dry foliage Its colour perfectly matched the dry brown leaves that were scattered all over. While the camouflage was perfect, our instincts knew it was after all a  nightjar, the master of  camouflage.  We could not believe our eyes as we turned our camera to take some photographs. The thick branches of the trees  around hampered the light and we hurriedly scrambled to alter the camera settings without much success as we knew it was now or never. A couple of  clicks and the sound emitted by the crumbling of dry leaves under out boots  alerted the bird as it took a low flight into the thick forest area . All we could hear was its piercing  sound and then there was pin drop silence. For all of us from Chandigarh, it was for the first time, we had seen a  nightjar  though Dr Kalsi and Dr Chowdhary  had often seen it many times though not during day time. It is more of a . nocturnal bird. We gave dejected looks at each other as if   we had  missed our golden  opportunity to click the bird that was a delight  and challenge to any bird photographer?  It was so near and yet so far. 

Nightjars are the mystery birds about which little is widely  known except that they sit virtually motionless during daylight hours merging completely with their surroundings . However, they get active when dusk sets in  to feed on insects till dawn, mostly taking their prey in flight, mostly by keeping their mouths open in flight.  To spot them during daylight hours require a great amount of luck. The mystery if remain unresolved leads to myths and superstitions. 

The sound returned and so  our hopes. The bird returned to its original place of hiding.  All of us silently reminded ourselves to remain where we were and wait for the bird to emerge in the open. As our luck would have it, the nightjar flew and perched itself on a branch in the open at the eye level, barely few feet from us, sitting still. The light was perfect. The photo session began and most of us had turned our cameras to continuous mode as all of us wanted to take as many photographs as possible. Later, Dr Janak Chowdhary rightly said, "It was a life time experience to shoot Nightjar at day time , it was sheer luck indeed." The bird flew away and we prudently decided not to chase it any further. It had already obliged us and we need not disturb it any more. Even though it was getting hot, a cup of coffee each from Dr Rajiv Kalsi was very refreshing. Our day was made.

Back to the pavilion with our trophies in the shape of RAW images stored in our cameras, it was time to identify the nightjar specifically. Even though it had a large tail, I thought it was Indian nightjar. Quite a few concurred with me until Dr Gurpratap Singh, a renowned expert on birds opined that his candidate was Large-tailed Nighjar. He said that majority opinion is not always correct. According to him, " the cryptic plumage of  Nighjars renders them unsuitable for straight forward identification."  According to him, nuchal collor, throat-band, tail pattern, width and length of the tail, characteristic markings etc are to be keenly observed for true identification. It is certainly a mystery bird that requires minutest detailing. Biding is not easy thing to do. Every day there are challenges and new learning, a new experience.  Certainly unraveling the mysteries of the feathered creatures is very exciting.  In the  Indian sub-continent , besides the  Indian night jar and the large-tailed nighjars, we have Great eared nightjar, jungle nightjar, grey nightjar, european nightjar, egyptian nightjar, syke's nightjar, jerdon nighjar, andaman nightjar and the savana nightjar. 

Mr Vikramjit Singh a prolific writer on wildlife in his column in Time of India dated April 24, 2017   mentioned that Shivalik range is a haven for nightjars. he wrote, "Ideal spots to photograph and hear their charming calls are the check dams along the Shivaliks such as Perch, MIrzapr and Siswan dams. He was of the view that various nightjars look alike, it is best to identify them from their distinguished calls. 

Well!   Keep your eyes wide open and keep your ears well oiled. There may be  a nighjar  around to be  seen, understood and deciphered. Decoding the nightjar !