The Latin name for this species makes reference to the fact that only a single wing had ever been found -- that is, until this year when four committed twitchers tracked a live specimen down by torch and headlight. What's the species and where was it found?

looney_tunes

The Nechisar Nightjar, or Caprimulgus solala - a decomposing specimen was found in Ethiopia in the 1980s. It is claimed to have been sighted recently near Addis Ababa, but the video evidence is blurry. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106749870 Dec 21 09, 3:49 PM

Baloo55th

Please note: 'twitcher' is a term applied by real bird watchers to those who scan newspaper reports, internet boards, etc, and then go charging off to see something rare that's been notified. 'Twitcher' is not a term equal to 'bird watcher', and is regarded as insulting by people who go out to observe birds rather than collecting ticks on a list. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birdwatching OK, I have travelled eight miles to see a bird (third reported sighting in the county) that I had been told about by the discoverer (a friend of mine with whom I spent quite some hours on occasions with nothing out of the ordinary found). That is not twitching. The people who found this live specimen were not twitching - they were researching. A twitcher won't go unless someone has said the bird is there now. Sorry about the soapbox - you probably have an equivalent sore spot... Dec 21 09, 4:32 PM

Datsmeharse

This article refers to them as twitchers in much the same way I meant it. http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=31&art_id=vn20090519104248132C497984&set_id= I'll leave it to you to determine if they were doing "research" or twitching, but the trip leader, Ian Sinclair, tops the Twitcher Standings in his home country of South Africa: http://struiknature.book.co.za/blog/2009/09/02/birds-of-southern-africas-ian-sinclair-tops-the-sa-twitcher-standings/ Dec 21 09, 6:33 PM