The family Caprimulgidae is the largest in the order Caprimulgiformes. Their full body size from head to tail measures between 6 to 16 inches (15 to 40 cm). They are light in weight and measure 0.7 to 6.6 oz (20 to 188 grams). Their feather color includes brown brownish yellow, gray, and rofous or reddish brown. Like other members of this family, their colors form color patterns that help them camouflage in their habitats to avoid predators. The camouflage helps them hide in trees and so escaping their predators.

Being nocturnal in nature, the nightjar possesses large head with large eyes that provide powerful vision that helps them have a fantastic view at night. The bill of the bird opens to show a wide gape- the width of the mouth when not closed. They have short legs, long tails and wings.

Nighthawks, which is a group of nightjars lack bristles and usually have longer tails than the nightjar.

The nightjar is often described as a Palearctic breeding migrant and has non-breeding grounds in East and West Africa, but also sometimes in Southern Africa, though in a lesser extent. As mentioned earlier, and as a result of being migratory, in nature, they arrive in Southern Africa during September to October, usually after a long and tortuous flight from Eurasia. The migration occurs in equal and spaced out populations in Southern Africa, and they generally prefer woodland and savannah. The diet of nightjar is exclusively made of flying insects, more specifically beetles. Most of its hunting routine is done at dusk and just before the sun rises. The nightjar stays around this place for about six months and the end of April; a majority of them are usually gone.

Geographical range
Nightjar colonizes all parts of the world with an exception of Arctic and Antarctica and also some oceanic islands. As has been said above, some nightjar species, like the European nightjar, migrate from one continent to another. The European nightjar breeds in Europe but spends most of its time in Africa.

Habitat
The nightjar inhabits different ecological zones ranging from the semi-arid deserts to tropical rainforests where the availability of heavy rainfall means abundant growth. The birds can be spotted in deciduous forest as well as coniferous forests where there is no shedding of leaves. They are also found in grassland areas that do not have as much trees as the tropical rainforest.

Diet
Nightjars eat insects like beetles, flies, ants, and caterpillars. Their mode of hunting is either mounting a chase on the ground or flying after their prey in the air. Sometimes, these birds eat spiders and the larger ones may even eat frogs and other small birds.

Nightjars and people
As their name suggest, these birds make a lot of disturbing noise (jarring) noise which is particularly annoying when people are sleeping at night. This is where this bird derives its name. It used to be called goat sucker because people erringly thought that these birds drank milk from the cow and the goats.