What the heck is a nightjar and what does it have to do with software?

Different superstitions and folklore surrounding nightjars exist among many different cultures - often attached to death. Spooky!

Aristotle wrote about the ancient superstition between goatherders and nightjars. He wrote that they would fly around their livestock and drink the milk from their goats, earning them the nickname “goatsuckers.” Very strange nickname - but hey, whatever floats your boat.

Odin, the main Norse one-eyed god referred to as the All-Father, is said to be accompanied by a “night-raven,” which is believed to have been inspired by the European nightjar. This night-raven was responsible for abducting and carrying people off to the underworld. The connection is made from the Norwegian word for nightjar, “nattravn,” meaning, “night raven.” So yeah, we've got a goatsucking viking bird so far.

The Whippoorwill has made a profound impact in literature, being featured in stories written by widely known authors such as H.P. Lovecraft and Robert Frost (to namedrop a few). Robert Frost included this bird in his piece “Ghost House,” a poem about death. H.P. Lovecraft wrote a short story named “The Dunwich Horror,” in which he used indigenous superstitions about the Whippoorwill, writing that they predict death by syncing their calls to the breathing of whoever will die soon, and will carry their soul to the grave. This actually led to people killing Whippoorwills in real life out of fear. Not cool, guys.

People developed this fear of nightjars because they are active at night, not only making them difficult to see, but also because they like to make noises. This fear of the unknown sparked folklore for literally thousands of years, and caused who knows how many deaths of these birds. At least people know better now.