The Silky-tailed Nightjar is a forest nightjar. In Misiones, Argentina, the nominate subspecies occurs in Atlantic Forest.
It is dark brown with ochre mottling, an ochre collar, and a chestnut nape band. Pale spots mark the throat and chest, the underside is barred, and outer tail feathers have a diagonal white band. The male's tail tips are white; the female's are rufous.
It lives in forest and rapidly repeats a five-syllable song.
In Itapúa, Paraguay, one chick was found in December 2017 in a shallow hollow among fallen bamboo twigs, leaves and small plants. There was no constructed nest.
The female near that chick moved onto broken bamboo when approached and rustled her wings and tail to make a sound. She drew attention to herself without vocalizing.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.