We’ve been reviewing the data gathered by the first deployment of the AudioMoth recorders this season and came across this recording from site AO. Figure 1 shows the pattern of singing between 0300 and 0430 BST, which is the dawn window in which the devices have been configured to record. The longest gap between bouts of churring in this 90 minute recording is just 2’47, illustrating how much Nightjar will sing, particularly in the dawn period.
At 33 minutes in the recording it’s probable that the bird was singing from the tree that the device was attached to, given the clarity of the recording. Figure 2 shows this close continuous burst of song which is 18’31’’ in length.
Audio clip 1 gives the preceding context to this prodigious burst. The bird is first heard churring from a more distant spot, and interacts with a female, giving the familiar run down, followed by purring 0’23 to c 1’12, heard very faintly. Wing claps can be heard from 1’14 as the bird moves to the tree where the recorder is situated and the volume goes up. In the background, a Woodcock goes over at 2’01 and is heard again at 3’21 onwards.
Audio clip 2 is just the full 18 minute section.
Although we wouldn’t want to say that our Forest Nightjars are the best, listeners may consider that the gauntlet has been thrown down; has anyone out there got a bird that can beat this?
**UPDATE** – Dec 2023- Records are there to be broken!