---
title: "Nachtzwaluw"
description: "Caprimulgus europaeus — Vogels. The European nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus), 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."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/nl/animal/eurasian-nightjar
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Nachtzwaluw

> Caprimulgus europaeus — Vogels. The European nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus), 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.

- Scientific name: *Caprimulgus europaeus*
- Category: `birds` (Vogels)
- Habitats: `forest` (Bos)
- iNaturalist observations: 6153
- Wikidata: [Q26717](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q26717)
- iNaturalist taxon: [19410](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/19410)

## Names

- en: Eurasian Nightjar
- de: Ziegenmelker
- es: Chotacabras Europeo
- fr: Engoulevent d'Europe
- it: Succiacapre
- nl: Nachtzwaluw
- pt: Noitibó-da-europa
- pl: Lelek zwyczajny

## Countries with the most observations

RU (1423), FR (386), PT (377), IT (345), ES (323), GB (309), ZA (169), UA (114), DE (90), FI (87), GR (78), TR (64)

## Summary

The European nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus), 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. The six subspecies differ clinally, the birds becoming smaller and paler towards the east of the range. All populations are migratory, wintering in sub-Saharan Africa. Their densely patterned grey and brown plumage makes individuals difficult…

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

## Photo

![Nachtzwaluw](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/eurasian-nightjar/medium.jpg)

Photo: zj_adram · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/150315238

## Machine access

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