The Golden Nightjar's sandy-golden plumage blends into the Sahel's dry ground. It rests on the ground by day and searches for insects at dusk.
The sexes look alike, with rufous or golden-buff plumage, a pale throat patch, and broad white marks on the outer wings and tail.
It is active at dusk and at night, resting on fairly bare ground by day. At dusk it feeds on insects such as grasshoppers and moths, often near water.
Near Ouadâne, Mauritania, on 19 April 2018, one egg lay directly on sand beneath the outer edge of a plant. It had a pale bluish ground colour with dark-brown marbling.
Near Ouadâne in April 2018, a bird fed in the open after dark and was observed catching a large cricket in flight.
At Oued Chiaf in Western Sahara in March 2019, an adult was observed sheltering two young beneath its body.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.