Chapter 12: Nearer to God than Godlingston
Folklore, mystery and strange country names don’t help when getting to grips with nightjars. Stories of ‘goatsuckers’ living in the ‘twilight zone’ make them seem much larger in the imagination than they are in real life. An adult European Nightjar seen perched on a post at close range is exquisite. Its body is only the size of a Starling, but its wings cloak the body and deceive the eye.
We have loads of nightjars breeding on the heaths of Poole Harbour. Nick has surveyed them, and points out that walking around on your own in the pitch darkness on an unfamiliar large heath, with a distinct lack of footpaths and numerous treacherous bogs interspersed with high tussocks, can be quite a challenge physically and mentally, particularly if you hear unfamiliar noises and have just watched An American werewolf in London. Despite the werewolves, Nick found a lot more birds than he had expected: 46 males on Studland and Godlingston Heath alone.
The way we find the males is by listening for their churring song. Males churr from early May onwards, and this is usually the first indication that they have returned from Africa. When churring, they are always perched, usually on a snag, a fencepost, or on top of a tree. They like to choose strategic spots like clearings, where the sound will resonate off the surrounding forest. It grows from almost nothing. When it has your full attention it starts making pendulum-like swings between two pitches. For several minutes, it envelops and hypnotises you. Then the nightjar suddenly stops, often while clapping its wings together and flying off. You wake up with a start. CD1-48 was recorded at Studland at 03:26 in the morning, along the path that the nudists use to get to the beach.
CD1-48: European Nightjar Caprimulgus europaeus Studland, Dorset, England, 03:26, 16 June 2010. Churring song of an adult male, with wingclaps when it flies off at the end. Background: Common Teal Anas crecca, Herring Gull Larus argentatus and Common Reed Bunting Emberiza schoeniclus. 100616.MC.022600.01
When moving to a different songpost, the churring ends with a sound like a propellor engine winding down. For about five seconds, a series of wingclaps alternate with whistling notes, which gradually morph into a low whirring sound and peter out. In CD1-49 you can hear churring of a male nightjar that ends this way. It was recorded in Morocco, where Arnoud spent a night recording nightjars in open cork oak forest under a full moon, just beyond the stables of one of the king’s palaces.
CD1-49: European Nightjar Caprimulgus europaeus Dar Es Salam, Rabat, Morocco, 01:45, 22 June 2010. Co-ick calls, then churring song, which has a special ending with whistled notes and loud wingclaps, typically used when moving to a different songpost. Background: Maghreb Tawny Owl Strix aluco mauritanica. 100622.AB.014500.01
European Nightjar Caprimulgus europaeus, Belarus, 12 May 2002 (René Pop)
Although most people associate nightjars with dusk, they are actually more active during the last hours of the night. By this time, feeding has stopped and they can concentrate on defending their territory, reminding everyone else where their boundaries are before going off to sleep. This is when most vigorous interactions between males seem to occur, as they chase each other around with plenty of co-ick calls and surprisingly loud wing-clapping. It is quite a vigorous display, and it often carries on well into the first light of dawn, when we are able to see them. Then before we know it, all is quiet and daylight is upon us.
We could have chosen an example of co-ick calls from dawn, but CD1-50 was recorded at 02:00. We chose this recording because we suspect that it includes calls and wingclaps of both sexes. It was recorded in the same Moroccan territory, 15 minutes after the last recording. By now all the king’s horses and dogs had woken up, but it was still too dark to see the nightjars. So the sexing of these birds is provisional, based on the female’s weaker calls and wingbeats. The male calls and claps his wings three times, with the female following suit. According to our interpretation, all subsequent calls are given by the male.
CD1-50: European Nightjar Caprimulgus europaeus Dar Es Salam, Rabat, Morocco, 02:04, 22 June 2010. Co-ick calls of a presumed pair. First, a call and three wingbeats of presumed male, then the same sequence from the presumed female, with all subsequent calls being from the male. Background: distant domestic dogs and horses. 100622.AB.020400.11
Being alone in the dead of night with a nightjar ‘butterflying’ around your head is a magical experience. Sometimes their dancing seems particularly animated, as if they are being jerked on a piece of string. This is more pronounced in windy conditions, when the small effort used for forward movement is counteracted by the wind, and the bird ends up flickering on the spot. If you walk a footpath through the Godlingston Heath on a midsummer’s night, you may experience this several times as you pass through different territories. The nightjar, usually a female, warns its family of your presence with kuk calls (CD1-51).
CD1-51: European Nightjar Caprimulgus europaeus Leusderheide, Utrecht, Netherlands, 22:59, 6 July 2004. Kuk calls of an alarmed female while circling and hovering over the intruding recordist with slow wingbeats. 04.021.AB.20043.11
Surprisingly, while having so many in Poole Harbour does make it easy to see them, it seems that studying family behaviour is easier when there is only one pair. A few years ago, Killian was treated to the rare event of a single pair of nightjars breeding near his home in Ireland, where on average there are less than five breeding records a year. By observing carefully over a series of days, he managed to make some fascinating recordings. Fortunately, the nest was visible from an elevated point some distance away, allowing Killian to gain some idea how far the pair had progressed with their breeding attempt. By the time he recorded CD1-52, the young were about two and a half weeks old. In this recording, you can hear kuk calls of the male, whose white wing-flashes and tail corners Killian managed to see by the light of a crescent moon.
CD1-52: European Nightjar Caprimulgus europaeus Ballyvalloo, Wexford, Ireland, 23:00, 10 July 2005. Kuk calls of a male accompanying juveniles, whose calls can be heard in the background. 05.002.KM.14747.11
As in so many bird species, juvenile nightjars have one call type that serves mainly to reveal their location, and another that they use while actually being fed. In CD1-53 you can hear both, with some calls of juvenile humans in the background. The adult male arrives with food after 01:30 with a rapid series of kuk calls, after which the juvenile’s calls gradually change to a much harsher and more rapidly repeated wheezing.
CD1-53: European Nightjar Caprimulgus europaeus Ballyvalloo, Wexford, Ireland, 22:50, 10 July 2005. Two call types of a juvenile: first a buzzing call that serves to reveal its location, then a hissing call while being fed by an adult male. The adult gives rapidly repeated kuk calls. Background: children playing. 05.002.KM.14008.02
The biggest surprise was when Killian managed to record a churring female (CD1-54). This is a rarely heard sound, and we are not aware of any other published recording. It took place on the same day as the last two recordings. At one point the female churred quietly in the foreground while the male churred in the distance. When Killian returned two days later, the female had moved to another nest nearby to start a second brood, which proved to be unsuccessful.
CD1-54: European Nightjar Caprimulgus europaeus Ballyvalloo, Wexford, Ireland, 22:00, 10 July 2005. Weak churring song of female, with co-ick calls of male in background. Background: Common Blackbird Turdus merula. 05.002.KM.05905.23
The final recording in our nightjar selection is one that you are unlikely to hear unless you are a ringer holding one in your hand. A gargling hiss is used as a last resort threat call when a nightjar senses that it is in very grave danger. It is delivered with the bill wide open, revealing the enormous size of the gape. Adding to the snake-like impression, the nightjar writhes and squirms as it gives this call. The one in CD1-55 was recorded at a ringing station in Kazakhstan where nightjars of three subspecies were being caught. C e sarudnyi is the subspecies that breeds over much of Central Asia.
CD1-55: European Nightjar Caprimulgus europaeus sarudnyi Chokpak Station, Zhambyl, Kazakhstan, 13 May 2000. Weird hissing calls given in the hand while captive for ringing purposes. Background: Eastern Nightingale Luscinia megarhynchos golzii and Red-headed Bunting Emberiza bruniceps. 00.027.MR.04408.01