Freckled Nightjars are night birds that sometimes chill out and go into energy-saving mode during dark nights—even when there's plenty of food. It seems they do this not because they're hungry, but because it's too dark to hunt well.

Even when there's plenty of food around, these night birds still slow down their bodies at night—probably because it's dark and hard to find food, not just because food is scarce.

Freckled Nightjars are more likely to go into energy-saving mode based on how bright the moon is than on how cold it is, which means they might be using the moonlight to hunt instead of just reacting to the temperature.

European nightjars stay up way longer and hunt more bugs on bright, moonlit nights than on dark ones — it’s like they’re using the moon as a nightlight to help them see their dinner.