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European nightjar migration Caprimulgus europaeus
▶ Follow the European nightjar across the big globe
Press ▶ to play the year. Line: a simplified typical route, joining the main cluster of GBIF records in each month (adjusted for observer effort).
| Scientific name | Caprimulgus europaeus |
|---|---|
| Wingspan | 60 cm |
| IUCN status | Least concern |
| Records mapped | 204,195 (GBIF) |
| GPS / geolocator tracks | none with an open licence yet |
Facts from Wikidata Q26717 (CC0).
When does the European nightjar arrive in the UK?
Only 8,299 UK records in the GBIF data used here, too few to say when it arrives.
Migration in the data
204,195 GBIF records (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 licences only) are mapped here, in 1.41° grid cells, month by month.
In Europe and Africa, the centre of the records (adjusted for observer effort) is furthest north in June (about 49°N) and furthest south in January (about 10°S).
More than half of the effort-adjusted signal there is south of the Equator in: January, February, March, December.
Month by month: centre of records in Europe and Africa
| Month | Centre (latitude) | South of the Equator |
|---|---|---|
| January | 10°S | 78% |
| February | 3°S | 68% |
| March | 9°N | 63% |
| April | 36°N | 4% |
| May | 44°N | 1% |
| June | 49°N | 0% |
| July | 48°N | 0% |
| August | 47°N | 0% |
| September | 41°N | 0% |
| October | 31°N | 0% |
| November | 7°N | 39% |
| December | 10°S | 80% |
Tracked birds
No openly licensed (CC0 / CC BY) tracking data package for this species was found in the Movebank Data Repository yet, so only records are shown.
About the European nightjar
The European nightjar, common goatsucker, Eurasian nightjar or just nightjar is a crepuscular and nocturnal bird in the nightjar family that breeds across most of Europe and the Palearctic to Mongolia and Northwestern China. The Latin generic name refers to the old myth that the nocturnal nightjar suckled from goats, causing them to cease to give milk. …
From the Wikipedia article “European nightjar” (revision 1370910523), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Sources
GBIF occurrence records, licence CC0 1.0 or CC BY 4.0 only, observations only (no specimens), filtered with: taxonKey=8109681&license=CC0_1_0&license=CC_BY_4_0&occurrenceStatus=PRESENT&hasGeospatialIssue=false&basisOfRecord=HUMAN_OBSERVATION&basisOfRecord=MACHINE_OBSERVATION&basisOfRecord=OBSERVATION. Monthly queries: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec. GBIF.org (23 October 2026) occurrence data accessed via the GBIF API; a GBIF download DOI is still to be added. Contributing datasets.