Bates's Nightjar is a forest bird of western and central Africa. Its dark mottled plumage blends into its surroundings, and it hunts insects in dim light.
Adults have dark brown plumage marked with black and pale buff. The large head and long tail stand out; females are paler than males and lack the male's white wing and tail marks.
It is active at dusk and at night, catching insects as it flies within forests and along their edges.
It eats mantises, grasshoppers, beetles, moths and ants, foraging in the upper trees or above the canopy and along rivers or over grassland. It rests on the ground or on lianas several metres above it.
It lays directly on bare ground or leaf litter without building a nest, using sparse tracks or the edges of forest, gardens and plantations. The clutch often has one glossy white or pale pink egg with brown and grey-lilac markings.
Juveniles resemble adults but are paler and more buff overall. Newly hatched chicks are covered in yellowish-buff down.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.