Barred Owlet-Nightjar

Open encyclopedia reference

The barred owlet-nightjar (Aegotheles bennettii) is a species of bird in the owlet-nightjar family Aegothelidae. It is found in New Guinea. The species was originally thought to be the same species as the Australian owlet-nightjar, until that species was found within the range of the barred owlet-nightjar. It was also considered to be the same species as the Vogelkop owlet-nightjar. There are three subspecies, the nominate, from south-eastern New Guinea, A. b. wiedenfeldi from northern New Guinea, and A. b. plumifer from the D'Entrecasteaux Islands. The barred owlet-nightjar is 20 to 23 cm (7.9–9.1 in) and weighs 45–47 g (1.6–1.7 oz). The back is dark grey with buff vermiculations and pale undersides with dark barring. The face has broad buff eyebrows. The sexes are similar. Its natural habitat is tropical moist lowland forests, or forest edge, up to 1,100 m (3,600 ft), or 800 m (2,600 ft) for the nominate race. A nest has been found in a dead trunk. The eggs are white, and the clutch size of the known nests is two eggs.

Wikipedia contributors, Barred owlet-nightjar; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T07:48:19.135261+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Aegotheles bennettii Salvadori & D'Albertis, 1875

Name authority

Salvadori & D'Albertis, 1875

Common name

Barred Owlet-Nightjar

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Aves

Order

Apodiformes

Family

Aegothelidae

Genus

Aegotheles

Extinction status

Recorded extant

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classAves
9. orderApodiformes
10. familyAegothelidae
11. genusAegotheles Vigors & Horsfield, 1827
12. speciesAegotheles bennettii Salvadori & D'Albertis, 1875

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Aegotheles. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 8 records assigned to Aegothelidae.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=555506 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:658VH. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.