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Common Potoo | Nyctibius griseus
Grijze reuzennachtzwaluw | Nictibio común | Urutau
The Common Potoo is the most widespread potoo of the lowlands. By day it sits upright and motionless on the end of a broken branch or post, where, with closed eyes and its bill pointing upwards, it resembles a piece of dead wood. At night it gives itself away by a series of mournful, descending whistles.
Voice
The song is a series of four to eight loud, mournful whistles that become lower and softer, such as poo-oo, poo-oo, poo, poo, poh, especially on moonlit nights.
Recording: José María Loaiza B. — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto
Identification
33–38 cm, with a large head, a short bill with a very wide gape and a long tail. The plumage is grey to greyish brown, finely mottled and streaked with black, brown and white, like tree bark. On the breast a row of coarse black spots. The eyes are large and yellow; at rest the bird can almost close them and watches through slits in the eyelids. In torchlight the eyes shine orange. The sexes are alike; there are greyer and browner birds.
Confusion species
Great Potoo Nyctibius grandis is much larger and whiter, with dark brown eyes and a raw, growling voice. Long-tailed Potoo Nyctibius aethereus is larger and browner, with a clearly longer tail, and usually sits in the forest interior. Andean Potoo Nyctibius maculosus lives higher in montane forest and has a white patch on the wing. Northern Potoo Nyctibius jamaicensis of Central America is larger, with a hoarse, guttural voice.
Habitat
Forest edges, open woodland, secondary forest, várzea, gallery forest, savanna with trees and farmland with scattered trees, such as cacao and coffee plantations, from sea level to about 1500 m. At night it sallies from a lookout for flying insects, such as beetles and moths, and then returns to the same perch. The single egg is laid without a nest in a hollow or crook on top of a broken branch.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation units of the Andes and the west coast.
Range and movements
In Colombia in the lowlands on both sides of the Andes, also in the Magdalena and Cauca valleys. In Ecuador in the western and eastern lowlands. In Peru mainly in the eastern lowlands and foothills. In Bolivia in the lowlands of the north and east. Absent from the high Andes and the Galápagos. Outside the guide area from Nicaragua and Costa Rica to northern Argentina and Uruguay.
- Resident
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
At night drive or walk along forest edges and open country with scattered trees and search with a torch for the orange eyeshine on posts and broken branches. By day birds can be found resting on a regular branch.
Conservation status
Least Concern. The species is widespread and tolerates open, human-modified landscape with trees well.
Scientific name
Nyctibius griseus | (Gmelin, 1789)
Gmelin described the species in 1789 as Caprimulgus griseus; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Nyctibius was introduced in 1816 by Vieillot. The genus name comes from Greek nuktibios, 'night-feeding', from nux, 'night', and bios, 'life'. The species name is Medieval Latin griseus, 'grey'. The specimen the first description was based on came from Cayenne, French Guiana.