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The UK Bird Atlas

Nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus)Where and when to see it in the UK

Status not yet classified · reporting peaks June · Nightjars and Nighthawks · BOU category AF

Records to 2026-08-16 · build 2026-08-31

Nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus)
P.Taszynski, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Peak months
Nightjar: relative reporting rate by 10 km square, September

Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (grid squares, place names from OS Open Names). Northern Ireland place names: OSNI Open Data, OGL v3.0. County and country boundaries: Office for National Statistics, Open Government Licence v3.0. Coastline: Natural Earth. Bird records from the data partners listed here.

Nightjar has been recorded in 487 of the 2,971 10 km squares covering UK land (16%) in records to 2026. Its strongest squares are in England, Wales and Scotland. Reporting peaks in June.

Conservation status: Least Concern (IUCN Red List, LC)
View on the IUCN Red List
Relative to this species' best squares (how classes are calculated)
Very high
100% or more of visits
High
12% to 100%
Moderate
3% to 12%
Low
under 3%
Surveyed, not recorded
at least 20 qualifying visits, no record
Insufficient records
too few visits to say
Lighter fill
Few visits, lower confidence
Small dot
Occasional: a single record, or out of season

Seasonality

Reporting rate by month, relative to the peak month
MonthRelative to peakShare of visitsTypical class
January 0%<1%Low
February 0%<1%Very high
March 0%<1%Very high
April 1%<1%Very high
May 53%<1%Very high
June 100%1%Very high
July 39%<1%Very high
August 15%<1%Very high
September 4%<1%Very high
October 0%<1%Very high
November 0%<1%Very high
December 0%<1%Insufficient records

Squares with the highest reporting rate in June

SquareWhereShare of visitsClass
HP60Shetland Islands, Scotland100%Very high
HU31Shetland Islands, Scotland100%Very high
HY63Orkney Islands, Scotland100%Very high
HY64Orkney Islands, Scotland100%Very high
HZ27Shetland Islands, Scotland100%Very high
NC26Highland, Scotland100%Very high
NH92Highland, Scotland100%Very high
NH93Highland, Scotland100%Very high
NO55Angus, Scotland100%Very high
NS68Stirling, Scotland100%Very high

Spotted an error in a square? Report it and it goes into the review queue. Read the methodology for how classes, flags and sensitive-species rules work. Data to 2026.