The records are from Melaleuca savanna and humid forest. The 1998 sighting was of a single bird foraging for insects briefly at dusk, in evergreen riverine forest (Ekstrom et al. 2000, Tobias and Ekstrom 2002). Other owlet-nightjars Aegotheles spp. are territorial and vocal inhabitants of various wooded habitats (Tobias and Ekstrom 2002). They nest and roost in holes in trees and are largely sit-and-wait predators of small animals, foraging from perches or from the ground. A. savesi is larger and has much longer legs than congeners, which may indicate more terrestrial habits (Olson et al. 1987, J. Ekstrom in litt. 1999, Tobias and Ekstrom 2002). Precise elevational limits are unknown.

Aegotheles savesi is endemic to New Caledonia (to France). Fossils of the species were found in Gilles and Pindai Cave (Balouet and Olsen 1989; Anderson et al. 2010).  It is known from a specimen collected in 1880 at Païta, near Nouméa (Layard and Layard 1881) and a second specimen dated 1915 recently discovered in an Italian museum (C. Violani in litt. 2000, Macmillian 1939). Since then, there have been 6 unconfirmed reports; (1) a possible record from the island of Maré (Macmillan 1939), (2) one found dead (but not retained) in the Tchamba valley in the 1950s (Ekstrom et al. 2000), (3) one shot close to Païta in 1960 (Hannecart and Létocart 1983, Ekstrom et al. 2000), (4) one report in Nakutakon (Dumbea) in the 1970s (D. Benebig pers comm. 2000 cited by Dutson and Barré 2000), and (5) a possible sighting in 1998 in the Rivière Ni valley (Ekstrom et al. 2000, Tobias and Ekstrom 2002, Ekstrom et al. 2002). Given that local people do not know this distinctive species and that there have been no other records from recent extensive surveys (Warner 1947, Barré et al. 2009, 2013, SCO in litt. 2023), it must occur in very low numbers and/or be restricted to the most remote forest massifs such as Kouakoue (Ekstrom et al. 2000, Tobias and Ekstrom 2002).

Conservation Actions Underway
The 1998 report was in the Reserve Speciale de Faune et de Flore de la Ni-Kouakoue. This area receives little conservation management but is very remote and hence affords a degree of protection. Between 2002 and 2007, c. 500 person-days in the field yielded no sightings, and between 2003 and 2006 120 local interviews received no credible reports.

Conservation Actions Proposed
Conduct further intensive field surveys close to the possible 1998 sighting and on other ultrabasic massifs in the vicinity (Ekstrom et al. 2000, Tobias and Ekstrom 2002), provided these are cost effective and do not detract from the conservation of other threatened species.