The Jungle Nightjar, Caprimulgus indicus, is a species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of nightjar

Nightjar

Nightjars are medium-sized nocturnal or crepuscular birds with long wings, short legs and very short bills. They are sometimes referred to as goatsuckers from the mistaken belief that they suck milk from goats . Some New World species are named as nighthawks...

 found in India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 and Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...

. It was formerly called the Grey Nightjar or Indian Jungle Nightjar and it included the East Asia

East Asia

East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...

n Grey Nightjar

Grey Nightjar

The Jungle Nightjar, Caprimulgus indicus, is a species of nightjar found in India and Sri Lanka. It was formerly called the Grey Nightjar or Indian Jungle Nightjar and it included the East Asian Grey Nightjar The Jungle Nightjar, Caprimulgus indicus, is a species of nightjar found in India and Sri...

 (C. jotaka) which was then treated as a subspecies

Subspecies

Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...

 of this species.

Its scientific name means "nightjar from India", and it is thus sometimes confused with C. asiaticus which is commonly called Indian Nightjar

Indian Nightjar

The Indian Nightjar is a small nightjar which is a resident breeder in open lands across South Asia and Southeast Asia. Like most nightjars it is crepuscular and is best detected from its characteristic calls at dawn and dusk that have been likened to a stone skipping on a frozen lake - a series...

. To distinguish them, in former times C. indicus was known as the Large Indian Nightjar.