brown nightjar

{{short description|Species of bird}}

{{speciesbox

| image =

| status = LC

| status_system = IUCN3.1

| status_ref = {{cite iucn |title=Veles binotatus |author=BirdLife International |date=2016 |page=e.T22689871A93250826 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22689871A93250826.en |access-date=17 November 2021}}

| genus = Veles

| parent_authority = Bangs, 1918

| species = binotatus

| authority = (Bonaparte, 1850)

| synonyms = *Caprimulgus binotatus

}}

The brown nightjar (Veles binotatus) is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is the only species in the genus Veles. It is found in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Ghana, and Liberia.

Very little is known about the behaviour of the brown nightjar. Its call, a metallic "kliou" note given at one second intervals, was first described in 1998.{{cite journal | last1=Dowsett-Lemaire | first1=F. | last2=Dowsett | first2=R.J. | date=1998 | title=Vocal and other peculiarities of Brown Nightjar Caprimulgus binotatus | journal=Bulletin of the African Bird Club | volume=5 | issue=1 | pages=35-38 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/51918036 }} Its relationship to other species of nightjar is uncertain as it has not been included in a molecular phylogenetic study.{{Cite journal | last1=Sigurðsson | first1=Snorri | last2=Cracraft | first2=Joel | date=2014 | title=Deciphering the diversity and history of New World nightjars (Aves: Caprimulgidae) using molecular phylogenetics | journal=Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society | volume=170 | issue=3 | pages=506-545 | doi=10.1111/zoj.12109 | doi-access=free}}