The standard-winged nightjar is famous for the breeding male’s unusual wing feathers: a single long shaft grows from each wing, bare for most of its length and ending in a broad flag or “standard”. In flight at dusk, the male looks as if two small birds are chasing it. In Uganda it is a dry-season visitor to savannah and woodland, seen mainly in the north and west, including Murchison Falls and Kidepo, roughly from the end of the year into the early months.

Standard-Winged Nightjar Uganda: The Extraordinary Display Bird

The display

At dusk, males fly slowly over open ground, the standards streaming behind them, to attract females. After the breeding season, the long feathers are broken off or moulted. Outside the display, both sexes are cryptically patterned in browns and greys and rest on the ground by day, almost invisible among dry leaves. They feed on moths and other flying insects caught at night.

Where to see it

Watch tracks and open areas at dusk in Murchison Falls north of the Nile and in Kidepo during the dry season; night drives give more chances. Timing varies between years, so ask local guides. The gorilla permit costs US$800, or US$600 in April, May and November. See our guides to night game drives, Murchison Falls, Kidepo and Uganda birding.

Frequently asked questions

Distribution and Habitat in Uganda

The standard-winged nightjar is a breeding intra-African migrant to Uganda, arriving from its non-breeding range further north during the northern hemisphere spring and departing by early autumn. In Uganda it occupies open woodland, bush, and agricultural land with scattered trees across the northern and western parts of the country. It is recorded in Murchison Falls National Park and the surrounding areas, and in open woodlands across western Uganda. Like all nightjars, it is strictly nocturnal and is most easily detected by its churring call or by spotlight at night.

The Breeding Plumage

The standard-winged nightjar’s remarkable secondary feathers appear only in breeding males during the period when they are in Uganda. Each secondary feather consists of a long bare shaft (the ‘standard’) with a paddle-shaped feather vane at the tip that trails behind the bird in flight, creating an appearance of two long streamers. These standards are used in display flights over open ground at dusk, where the male’s silhouette is immediately recognisable. Non-breeding males, females, and juveniles lack the standards and are identified by typical nightjar features — cryptic brown plumage, large eyes, wide gape, and bristled facial feathers.

Conservation Status

The standard-winged nightjar is classified as Least Concern by the IUCN and is relatively common across its breeding range in sub-Saharan Africa. Uganda represents the eastern edge of its East African breeding distribution, and records are seasonal.

Finding the Species

Standard-winged nightjars are most reliably found by spotlighting from a vehicle at night in open woodland or on dirt roads through bush at the right season (generally March to August in Uganda). The display flights of breeding males at dusk are another opportunity — listen for churring calls and watch open ground for the trailing standards. Murchison Falls National Park night drives are the most accessible context for searching for this species.

Standard-Winged Nightjar: Timing Your Visit

The standard-winged nightjar is a seasonal visitor to Uganda present approximately from March to August, coinciding with the breeding season when males display the remarkable elongated secondary feathers. Visiting in this window maximises the chance of seeing the male in full display. Murchison Falls National Park is the most accessible Uganda site — arrange night drives from the park lodges in the northern sector, focusing on open woodland tracks and clearing edges. The standard wings are sometimes visible in vehicle headlights as a male crosses a track. Even without the standards, nightjar species can be located by eye-shine in spotlight or by their churring calls.

Standard-Winged Nightjar: Display Season Timing

The male standard-winged nightjar’s display feathers — elongated ninth primaries that extend up to 40 centimetres beyond the wing tip — are grown and shed annually, present only during the breeding season between January and May. Outside this window, the male is indistinguishable from other nightjars in the field. Planning a Uganda visit between February and April maximises the chance of seeing displaying males, which fly with the standards held upright in a slow, buoyant flight over open woodland at dusk. The display flight is most reliably observed in moist woodland in Murchison Falls National Park and on the Budongo Forest margins. Night drives timed for the first 90 minutes after sunset — when the display activity peaks — are the standard approach. Murchison Falls’ northern bank tracks are particularly productive.