Potoo Bird in Detail

Potoo Bird in Detail Colombia, set the internet on fire after she spotted this strange-looking creature. She initially mistook the bird for a piece of wood, but when she approached it, it opened its big mouth and screamed at her. The woman filmed the event and it quickly went viral on social media.

The solitary, nocturnal potoos are masters of camouflage and can even make themselves look like dead branches by lying still and blending in with their surroundings. Their gray and brown plumage resembles tree bark, and they can also assume a “cryptic” pose—a more horizontal position with their head tipped forward—to further disguise themselves.

Potoo Bird in Detail: Nature’s Perfect Nocturnal Predator”

They feed on a variety of nocturnal flying insects—including moths, katydids, and beetles—and are also known to catch bats. They hunt by perching and waiting until a passing insect flies close to them, then they take flight and capture the prey. The potoos then return to their perch and eat their catch. They often use the same perch from night to night.

The potoos are members of the order Caprimulgiformes and closely resemble upright sitting nightjars (like nighthawks and whip-poor-wills). They are also related to frogmouths from Australasia, which have proportionally large heads for their bodies.

The Great Potoo is the largest of the three potoo species and can be found in lowland rainforests across Central America and South America. Its call is a deep reverberating roar. The Long-tailed and Common potoos are smaller and sound less resonant. The Northern potoo, which is less commonly seen, sounds more akin to an owl and gives off a guttural shriek.