[citation needed] This species has a large range with stable population size and therefore has been listed as "Least Concern" with no prediction of substantial human influence on their habitats in the near future.

[2] Both sexes of this species are similar with slight sexual dimorphism, both having the large white band on their three outermost primaries, but it is smaller in females and sometimes mixed with buff.

[4]  The name commemorates Colonel William Henry Sykes, an English naturalist and ornithologist who served with the British military in India.

[8] The Sykes's nightjar is mainly found in the Indian subcontinent, predominantly in the countries of India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.

Their distribution also includes Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran, with vagrant birds recorded in United Arab Emirates and Oman.

[citation needed] The territorial call/song of Sykes's nightjar consists of long series of hard, knocking notes rapidly repeated, producing a prolonged churr, also described as a low trilling sound or rattle, which is given in bouts lasting 1-2 seconds and 3-4 minutes.

[2][4][6][9] This song is performed by a male from the ground, mainly at dusk and dawn, carrying through 200-300 meters, with each individual note being roughly equal in pitch and rate.

[2][4][6] During the breeding season, the males establish territories and perform various courtship displays to attract a mate during the night, including aerial acrobatics, wing-clapping, and vocalizations.

[2] Once the eggs hatch, the parents share the duties of feeding and protecting the chicks, which are semi-precocial with grey color and black speckles.

The young nightjars become fully independent from their parents a few months after fledging and reach sexual maturity at around one year of age where they usually breed annually.