Jaime Culebras's Image

Jaime was looking for snakes when he stumbled across this nightjar, its mottled feathers mimicking the truck’s colours. The next night, he set up his camera and waited for the bird to return for its post-hunt snooze. ‘I was sure it wouldn’t come,’ he explains, ‘but finally, after hours, it arrived and I was able to capture that beautiful moment.’

The cryptic plumage of these birds makes it difficult to distinguish between species and consequently, new species of nightjars are still being discovered. Their colouring is a creative camouflage and allows them to blend into leaf litter (or the mud and treads of a car tyre) while sleeping and nesting.