The Sand-colored Nighthawk has sandy mottled plumage and occurs along rivers in the Peruvian Amazon region. It also forages above rivers during the day.
Its plumage is sandy with fine brown mottling, helping it blend with sandy riverbanks.
It rests on sandy riverbanks or driftwood by day and catches insects while flying over rivers.
Along the Manu River in Peru it lays 1–2 eggs in a shallow hollow in dry sand without nest lining. Incubation there lasts about 21 days.
On the Manu River it nests in groups near terns and Black Skimmers. In 1987–1988, nests closer to these birds, which mobbed predators, were more likely to hatch their eggs.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.