🐦European Nightjar
De nachtzwaluw (Caprimulgus europaeus) is een vogel uit de familie van de nachtzwaluwen (Caprimulgidae). De soort is niet aan de zwaluwen en de gierzwaluwen verwant. De nachtzwaluw is onder verschillende namen bekend. De meest gebruikte alternatieve naam, die ook in veel andere talen is terug te vinden, is geitenmelker, wat ook de letterlijke betekenis is van de geslachtsnaam Caprimulgus. Die naam is bijvoorbeeld terug te vinden bij Aristoteles, die beweerde dat het dier aan de uiers van geiten zuigt. Dat vermeende gedrag leverde het dier een slechte reputatie op, dat onder meer leidde tot de fabel dat het de geiten leeg zou zuigen of blind zou maken. Het leidde ertoe dat gedode nachtzwaluwen gekruisigd werden om boze geesten buiten de stal te houden.
Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
IUCN Red List assessment, 2025.
- Body mass
- 0.07 kg
- Body length
- not recorded
- Shoulder height
- not recorded
- Top speed
- not recorded
- Bite force
- not recorded
- Maximum lifespan
- 12 years
Everything we know about the European Nightjar
Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.
Body mass0.07 kgAVONETOther figures ↓Hide ↑
Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0
Figures vary
- 0.07 kgAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Tail length0.13 mAVONETDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0
Wing length0.18 mAVONETDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0
Beak length0.02 mAVONETDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0
Tarsus length0.02 mAVONETDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0
Maximum lifespan12 yearsAnAgeDetails ↓Hide ↑
data quality: acceptable
Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0
Trophic levelCarnivoreAVONETDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0
HabitatShrublandAVONETDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0
LifestyleAerialAVONETDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0
Volume l0.1 LaverageDetails ↓Hide ↑
Body mass at ~1.0 kg/L, the density of vertebrate tissue.
average = a mean across sexes or species in a group.
Not recorded for European Nightjar yet: body length, shoulder height, top speed, bite force.
Family tree
- kingdomAnimalia
- ›phylumChordata
- ›classAves
- ›orderCaprimulgiformes
- ›familyCaprimulgidae
- ›genusCaprimulgus
- ›speciesCaprimulgus europaeus
- superclassSarcopterygii
- superclassTetrapoda
- orderSauria
- classBirds · Aves
All 9 branches ↓Fewer branches ↑
- kingdomMetazoa
- phylumChordata
- subphylumCraniata
- subphylumVertebrata
- superclassGnathostomata
- superclassSarcopterygii
- superclassTetrapoda
- orderSauria
- classBirds · Aves
More about the European Nightjar
No videos of the European Nightjar yet.
We have 44,653 videos so far, and none of them features this animal yet.
All videos →Compare the European Nightjar
Pick a tool — the European Nightjar is already selected.
Compare every stat with any other animal.
Stand them on the same floor and see who's bigger.
How speed, brain and bite scale with body size. This animal isn't in the sample yet.
See where it sits in the tree of life.