---
title: "Gray Nightjar"
description: "Caprimulgus jotaka — Birds. The grey nightjar (Caprimulgus jotaka; also \"gray\" in some non-local literature) is a species of nightjar found in East Asia, breeding from southeastern Russia south through China, the Korean Peninsula and Japan to northern Indochina and westward along the Himalayas."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/gray-nightjar
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Gray Nightjar

> Caprimulgus jotaka — Birds. The grey nightjar (Caprimulgus jotaka; also "gray" in some non-local literature) is a species of nightjar found in East Asia, breeding from southeastern Russia south through China, the Korean Peninsula and Japan to northern Indochina and westward along the Himalayas.

- Scientific name: *Caprimulgus jotaka*
- Category: `birds` (Birds)
- Habitats: unknown
- iNaturalist observations: 1029
- Wikidata: [Q1440261](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1440261)
- iNaturalist taxon: [367509](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/367509)

## Names

- en: Gray Nightjar
- de: Graunachtschwalbe
- es: Chotacabras Jotaka
- fr: Engoulevent jotaka
- nl: Grijze nachtzwaluw
- pl: Lelek mandżurski

## Countries with the most observations

CN (275), SG (73), TH (70), KR (45), IN (37), VN (27), HK (26), MY (19), TW (19), RU (18), JP (15), MO (9)

## Summary

The grey nightjar (Caprimulgus jotaka; also "gray" in some non-local literature) is a species of nightjar found in East Asia, breeding from southeastern Russia south through China, the Korean Peninsula and Japan to northern Indochina and westward along the Himalayas. It is largely migratory, wintering in Indochina south to Java in Indonesia, but is resident in warmer areas in the south of its breeding range. It is sometimes treated as a subspecies of the jungle nightjar (C. indicus), its South Asian relative. The grey nightjar breeds and forages in early successional habitats surrounded by forests; its populations…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_nightjar

## Photo

![Gray Nightjar](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/gray-nightjar/medium.jpg)

Photo: James Eaton · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/196263156

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/gray-nightjar?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).