calling. White-throated nightjars do not make nests and instead lay their eggs directly onto leaf litter or bare soil. The eggs are pale yellow with purplish-brown splotches and clutch size is one. Their preferred nesting sites are on hilltops or stony ridges and they often reuse the same nesting sites every year. Both sexes are involved in parenting and take turns incubating the egg. During the day, the female will incubate the egg while the males nests nearby. Then at night, the male will take over incubation, allowing the female to hunt for food. If the nest or nestling are threatened, parents put on a variety of distractions that include short flights, vocal hisses and barks, and flicking tail movements while on the ground. Incubation lasts from 29 to 33 days and newly hatched chicks are precocial. Chicks are quite capable and are mobile starting on the first day. After approximately 30 days, the chick fledges. Three weeks after the first egg hatches, females may lay another egg. If an egg is lost females will lay another egg to replace it and can lay up to 5 eggs per breeding season. Conservation Although E. mystacalis is currently listed as least concern, the trend in their overall population is decreasing. They are often traveling along the sides of roads at night searching for food resulting in fatal traffic collisions. Feral cats and dogs prey upon both adults and chicks. Fire ants (Wasmannia auropunctata) introduced in the 1970s have spread into E. mystacalis native range and threaten nestlings. Furthermore, increasing bushfires have affected large parts of the Melaleuca savanna, destroying habitable sites. The current estimate of individuals is unknown. References white-throated nightjar Birds of Queensland Birds of New South Wales Birds of Victoria (Australia) white-throated nightjar Taxonomy articles created by Polbot