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POTOOs

Order Passeriformes    Family Nyctibiidae

Potoos are related to the nightjars and frogmouths. They are sometimes called poor-me-ones, after their haunting calls. There are seven species in one genus, Nyctibius, in tropical Central and South America. These are nocturnal insectivores which lack the bristles around the mouth found in the nightjars. They hunt from a perch like a 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.


Genus Nyctibius

Potoo,_Andean  Nyctibius maculosus   Found: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela
Image by: 1) Isirvio  2) Dominic_Sherony  3) Nick Athanas - Ecuador  4) David_Cook - Ecuador


Potoo,_Common  Nyctibius griseus   Found: Central and South America
The Common Potoo has plane gray to brown plumage;  finely patterned with black and bluff.
Image by: 1) Reinaldo_Aguilar - Costa Rica 2. 4) Julian_Londono    4) Nick Athanas - Peru  5) Sidnei_Siqueira



Potoo,_Great  Nyctibius grandis   Found: tropical Central and South America
The Great Potoo's plumage varies with white, gray, black, and burgundy. It has a large head.
Image by: 1) Mitternacht90  2) Charles_Sharp - Brazil  3, 4) Nick Athanas - Brazil
1) Specimen


Potoo,_Long-tailed  Nyctibius aethereus   Found: South America
Image by: 1) Nick Athanas - Brazil 2) Patty_McGann - Peru  3) Claudio_Timm


Potoo,_Northern  Nyctibius jamaicensis   Found: Mexico to Costa Rica; also Jamaica, Hispaniiola
The Northern Potoo hasw gray-brown plumage with gray and cream marking; pale cheeks with dark malar stripe below them.
Image by: 1) Jose_Amorin  2) Dominic_Sherony  3) Bryant_Olsen  4) Nick Athanas - Mexico


Potoo,_Rufous  Nyctibius bracteatus   Found: South America
The Rufous Potoo has rufous plumage with white spots on the underparts.
Image by: 1) Joseph_Smit   2) Nick Athanasœ - Ecuador  3) Eric_Gropp - Ecuador


Potoo, White-winged  Nyctibius leucopterus   Found: South America
Image by: 1) Andrew_Whittaker  2) Ciro Albano - Brazil 






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