The Spotted Nightjar is an Australian nightjar that rests on the ground by day and becomes active at dusk and night.
Its plumage is mottled brown and gray, with a broad buff collar around the back of the neck. Adult males and females look alike.
It is active at dusk and night and rests by day on leaf litter or stony ground. Southern populations move north in winter.
It builds no nest and lays a single pale yellow-green or olive egg marked with purplish brown on the ground or leaf litter. Both parents incubate for 29–33 days.
It eats moths and beetles as well as mantises, crickets, grasshoppers and flying ants. It may flutter or hover over flowering shrubs, lights and campfires to catch insects, and drinks by skimming the water surface.
Both sexes show conspicuous white patches on the outer flight feathers in flight, while the tail lacks white markings.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.