Where to see the Rufous-cheeked Nightjar in South Africa

Hosts on Spekboom have recorded the Rufous-cheeked Nightjar at stays in or beside Kruger National Park, Anysberg Nature Reserve, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and Madikwe Game Reserve. A record means a host has seen it on the property or nearby, which makes these the places to base yourself; it is never a guarantee of a sighting on any given day.

The Rufous-cheeked Nightjar is most recorded in Limpopo (28% of records), Northern Cape (27% of records), North West (19% of records), based on 128 iNaturalist observations. 28 places to stay on Spekboom in South Africa have recorded the Rufous-cheeked Nightjar on site or nearby.

The Rufous-cheeked Nightjar is recorded throughout the year, so no month is the wrong month to look for it. For the parks where hosts record it most, these are the best seasons they give. Kruger National Park: Apr-Sep; Anysberg Nature Reserve: Autumn and spring, Mar-May, Sep-Nov; Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park: Aug-Oct, flowers, Mar-May; Madikwe Game Reserve: Apr-Sep. In the dry months animals concentrate at water and the grass is short.

The rufous-cheeked nightjar (Caprimulgus rufigena) is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is an intra-African migrant that breeds in the south of its range. It spends the non-breeding season in eastern Nigeria, Cameroon, southern Chad and Sudan, the Republic of the Congo, the D.R.C. and western Central African Republic.