Potoo
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Lesser Potoo (camouflaged)
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The potoos (sometimes called Poor-Me-Ones) are large a family of near passerine birds related to the nightjars and frogmouths.
These are nocturnal insectivores which lack the bristles around the mouth found in the true nightjars. They hunt from a perch like a shrike or flycatcher. During the day they perch upright on tree stumps, camouflaged to look like part of the stump. The single spotted egg is laid directly on the top of a stump.
There are seven species in one genus in tropical South America.
- Great Potoo, Nyctibius grandis
- Long-tailed Potoo, Nyctibius aethereus
- Northern Potoo, Nyctibius jamaicensis
- Andean Potoo, Nyctibius maculosus
- Lesser Potoo or Common Potoo, Nyctibius griseus
- White-winged Potoo, Nyctibius leucopterus
- Rufous Potoo, Nyctibius bracteatus
[edit] External links
- Potoo videos on the Internet Bird Collection