Great potoo
| Great potoo | |
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.JPG) |
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in the Pantanal, Brazil Birdsong
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| (unranked): | Cypselomorphae |
| Order: | Caprimulgiformes |
| Family: | Nyctibiidae |
| Genus: | Nyctibius |
| Species: | N. grandis |
| Binomial name | |
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Nyctibius grandis (Gmelin, 1789) |
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The great potoo (Nyctibius grandis) is a near passerine bird, both the largest potoo species and the largest member of the order Caprimulgiformes (nightjars and allies). They are also one of seven species in one genus, Nyctibius, located in tropical America.
Similar to the owl, this species is also nocturnal. However they prey on eating insects and occasionally bats, which they capture in sallies from high perches.
Possibly its most well known characteristic is its unique moaning growl that the Great Potoo vocalizes throughout the night, creating an unsettling atmosphere in the Neotropics with its nocturnal sounds.
The Great Potoo has a large head in relation to its body.The eyes are also very large with a brown to yellow iris and has a short but broad beak. Their wings are elliptical in shape and with an elongated tail. The feather colors vary with white, gray, black, and burgundy. The tail colors match with that of the rest of the body with the exception of white bars that can be seen going across the tail laterally. (see references below)
Their prey consists mostly of large flying insects, especially large beetles, katydids and Orthoptera (including crickets and grasshoppers). Bats are taken occasionally as well. The Great Potoo takes advantage of the night and its natural camouflage by sitting on an exposed perch to wait until some prey flies by, at which point it darts out towards the prey and returns to the branch with it. Very often birds of this species will use the same hunting perch nightly.
They range from southern Mexico through northeastern Guatemala and through most of Central America down through South America as far as Bolivia and southeastern Brazil.
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Wikipedia