The Australian Owlet-nightjar is one of Australia’s most widespread nocturnal birds, yet it is seldom seen at night, though its grating or purring calls are a characteristic sound of the night in the Australian bush. Owlet-nightjars are seen surprisingly often during daylight hours, when they are easily disturbed at their roosts in hollow branches or spouts. They usually peek out of the hollow entrance, peering at the source of disturbance, and are readily flushed from their hollows, flying directly to another hollow and diving head-first inside.
