Gould included this species because several had been identified in England 'by many of the rising generation of British ornithologists.'

Gould was greatly interested in the nightjar family and published a project on the Caprimulgidae, which was issued as Part 2 of Icones Avium or Figures and Descriptions of New and Interesting Species in 1837-1838. It contained eight plates by Elizabeth Gould illustrating nightjars throughout the world.

DISTRIBUTION: Breeds southwest Palearctic from Iberia and northwest Africa between 43°N and 34°N. Ranges to east Atlantic islands and west Africa. Recorded only once in Britain in 1856