These nocturnal birds have ear-like feathery tufts on their heads, excellent night vision and a call which is said to be jarring. <\/p>
Lock up your goats, it\u2019s the great eared nightjar; a big-mouthed, teat-wrangling, milk-gobbler of a bird that will desiccate your bleaters and leave them blind. At least, that\u2019s what Aristotle thought. According to the renowned Greek philosopher, nightjars suckle directly from the udders of goats<\/a>. Bear in mind, however, he also believed that eels spontaneously generate from mud, that Earth is at the centre of the Universe and that men have hotter blood than women. Pinch of salt, anyone?\u00a0<\/p> Myths can be hard to shake and so, today, the nightjar is still known to some as the \u2018goatsucker.\u2019 Nightjars, of which there are around 100 species, feed on the wing and are insectivorous. In days gone by, they might have been attracted to domestic livestock, to feed on the insects that associate with them, which is where the nickname may have come from.\u00a0<\/p> The name \u2018nightjar\u2019 refers to the fact that the birds are nocturnal, and that their calls are said to be jarring. The great eared nightjar, known from the Western Ghats of India and parts of Southeast Asia, is so-called because it has great \u2018ears.\u2019 The feathery tufts that protrude from its head, are a bit like the ear tufts of a lynx. Indeed, the bird\u2019s Latin name is\u00a0Lyncornis macrotis<\/em>, which means long-eared lynx bird.\u00a0<\/p> The Latin name was bequeathed by the Irish zoologist Nicholas Aylward Vigors, who spotted the bird in 1831. This was no mean feat. Like all nightjars, the great eared variety is an expert in cryptic camouflage.<\/p> During the day, it hides in plain sight among the woody undertones of the forest, where its disruptive colouration \u2013 a subtle palette of greys, browns and ochres \u2013 helps to break up the bird\u2019s outline so it blends seamlessly into the background. Is it a pile of leaves? Is it\u00a0a tree stump? Is it even there at all? Evolution has sculpted this bird into a\u00a0true master of disguise.\u00a0<\/p> The great eared nightjar has relatively long wings, short legs, a small beak, but a big gape. Night vision is enhanced by a layer of reflective cells that sit just behind the retina. The\u00a0tapetum lucidum, which is\u00a0a common feature of other nocturnal hunters such as sharks, crocodiles and cats, helps the bird to see in the dark. When caught in the glare of a torch, it also makes the nightjar\u2019s eyes shine, which can be a useful feature for the conservationists who study it.\u00a0<\/p> Adult females lay a single egg in a scrape in the ground, which both parents then brood. When the egg hatches, they continue to feed the chick until it can fend for itself.<\/p> The birds call at night<\/a>, but in reality, their song is far from jarring. A sharp \u2018tsiik\u2019 followed by a two syllable \u2018ba-haaww\u2019 is an enchanting and a much-preferred alternative to the call of the bird\u2019s Indonesian relative. The Satanic nightjar of Sulawesi is so-called because its call sounds as if it is plucking a person\u2019s eyes out! Ouch!\u00a0<\/p> Read more:<\/strong><\/p> To submit your questions email us at questions@sciencefocus.com (don’t forget to include your name and location)<\/em><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n These nocturnal birds have ear-like feathery tufts on their heads, excellent night vision and a call which is said to be jarring. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":35011,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"3"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/10\/worlds-weirdest-animals-meet-the-great-eared-goatsucker-nightjar-bird.jpg",1200,800,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/10\/worlds-weirdest-animals-meet-the-great-eared-goatsucker-nightjar-bird-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/10\/worlds-weirdest-animals-meet-the-great-eared-goatsucker-nightjar-bird-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/10\/worlds-weirdest-animals-meet-the-great-eared-goatsucker-nightjar-bird-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/10\/worlds-weirdest-animals-meet-the-great-eared-goatsucker-nightjar-bird-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/10\/worlds-weirdest-animals-meet-the-great-eared-goatsucker-nightjar-bird.jpg",1200,800,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/10\/worlds-weirdest-animals-meet-the-great-eared-goatsucker-nightjar-bird.jpg",1200,800,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"These nocturnal birds have ear-like feathery tufts on their heads, excellent night vision and a call which is said to be jarring.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/35010"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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