Breeding

The following summary of the reproductive biology of Pygmy Nightjar is based on Ingels et al. (2014) and Mazar Barnett et al. (2014). Nests are reported from November-May, usually during the rainy season (Mazar Barnett et al. 2014). Pygmy Nightjar has no nest; the egg is placed directly on the ground, on sandy to stony substrates. The clutch is a single egg; the egg is pale buffy cream, with irregular reddish spots and dark blotches. During the day, only the female incubates or broods the nestling; the male attends the nest at night. Both sexes perform a distraction display, although this display usually differs by sex: the male displays "by walking short distances with fanned tail and spread wings raised slightly in V-shape", whereas the female flattened her body against the ground and flapped her wings while crawling away, resembling a broken wing display (Mazar Barnett et al. 2014). On one occasion, a male also was observed giving this broken wing display (Mazar Barnett et al. 2014).