---
title: "Australische dwergnachtzwaluw"
description: "Aegotheles cristatus — Vogels. The Australian owlet-nightjar (Aegotheles cristatus) is a nocturnal bird found in open woodland across Australia and in southern New Guinea."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/nl/animal/australian-owlet-nightjar
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Australische dwergnachtzwaluw

> Aegotheles cristatus — Vogels. The Australian owlet-nightjar (Aegotheles cristatus) is a nocturnal bird found in open woodland across Australia and in southern New Guinea.

- Scientific name: *Aegotheles cristatus*
- Category: `birds` (Vogels)
- Habitats: `forest` (Bos), `savanna` (Savanne)
- iNaturalist observations: 1574
- Wikidata: [Q781928](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q781928)
- iNaturalist taxon: [19361](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/19361)

## Names

- en: Australian Owlet-nightjar
- de: Baumschwalm
- es: Egotelo australiano
- fr: Égothèle d'Australie
- nl: Australische dwergnachtzwaluw
- pt: Noitibó-coruja-australiano
- pl: Sownik australijski

## Countries with the most observations

AU (1489)

## Summary

The Australian owlet-nightjar (Aegotheles cristatus) is a nocturnal bird found in open woodland across Australia and in southern New Guinea. It is the smallest nocturnal bird found in Australia, making it prone to predation. It is colloquially known as the moth owl or fairy owl and Jarlajirrpi by the Warlpiri people. It is the most common nocturnal bird in Australia. Despite suffering from predation and competition by introduced species, it is not considered threatened.

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

## Photo

![Australische dwergnachtzwaluw](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/australian-owlet-nightjar/medium.jpg)

Photo: Joshua S. Martin · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/318635762

## Machine access

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