The Puerto Rican Nightjar is endemic to Puerto Rico and lives in dry forests in the southwest. Its mottled brown plumage helps it blend into leaf litter.
Its plumage is mottled brown, making the night bird difficult to see against the forest floor and leaf litter.
It catches flying insects at night. In dry semi-deciduous forest with open understory and dense leaf litter, it lays its eggs directly on the ground.
At 23 nests found in Guánica Forest during 1985–1987, clutches contained one or two eggs, with 19 nests holding two. Males performed more incubation than females, and the eggs hatched after 18–20 days.
At Guánica Forest, an incubating male spread its wings and tail and faced the arriving female during an evening relief display. The male then flew off and the female walked to the eggs to take over incubation.
Chicks at Guánica Forest hatched with cinnamon-coloured down and received regurgitated food. Males provided most care, with both parents feeding alternately at twilight. Chicks moved short distances within 24 hours and could make short flights at 14 days.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.