The definitive guide to nightjars written by the world’s leading expert, Nigel Cleere.

Nightjars – a beautiful and charismatic group, popular with birders around the world. Some species have developed spectacular tails and wing adornments, but the majority are fairly uniform in appearance, making their identification a stern test.

The culmination of nearly 50 year of study by expert ornithologist Nigel Cleere, this new book focuses on these elusive birds. As the successor to Cleere’s 2000 book Nightjars: A Guide to Nightjars and related birds, this new edition has been updated to include a comprehensive photographic selection, fully revised taxonomy and new distribution maps.

Authoritative text covers physiology, behaviour, plumage and moult, foraging, breeding and taxonomy. This is accompanied by around 400 photos, encompassing as much subspecific, sexual and age-related variation as possible, and 36 plates depicting feather-by-feather detail of every species.

Meticulously researched, this new Helm Identification Guide is the definitive account of the species, bringing the world of the nightjar out of the dark and into the spotlight.