This nightjar is active after dark. Its grey and brown mottled plumage blends into open grassland and savanna.
Its plumage is mottled with grey, brown, and rufous tones. When still among open ground or grass, it blends into the surroundings.
It is nocturnal and eats invertebrates such as insects. It migrates south from its breeding range.
It catches moths, termites, ants, grasshoppers, beetles and other flying insects, either in brief sallies from the ground or a perch or during sustained hawking.
It lays two eggs directly on bare ground, usually near or sheltered by a low bush.
The population breeding in south-western Saudi Arabia crosses the Red Sea and winters in Africa.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.