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Common Potoo | Nyctibius griseus
Grijze reuzennachtzwaluw | Nictibio común
The Common Potoo is a nocturnal bird that spends the day perched upright and motionless on a broken branch or post, head raised and eyes almost closed, looking exactly like a piece of dead wood. It becomes active only after sunset. In Trinidad and Tobago it is known as poor-me-one, after the mournful song that carries over the forest on moonlit nights. The birds of Jamaica and Hispaniola, once included in this species, are now placed in Northern Potoo.
Voice
A series of five to eight loud, plaintive whistles, boo-ou, boo-ou, bo-ou, bo-ou, falling in pitch and volume. Sings mainly at night, most of all in moonlight.
Recording: José María Loaiza B. — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · converted to mono · xeno-canto
Identification
33–38 cm, with a large, flat head, a small bill with a very wide gape, long wings and a long tail. The plumage is finely mottled and barred in grey, brown, black and white, with a row of black spots across the breast and a dark malar stripe. The eyes are large and yellow; in a resting bird only narrow slits remain visible, through which it can still see. At night the eyes shine orange-red in a torch beam. The sexes are alike.
Confusion species
The nightjars of Trinidad and Tobago, such as Pauraque Nyctidromus albicollis, White-tailed Nightjar Hydropsalis cayennensis and Rufous Nightjar Antrostomus rufus, are smaller and rest lying flat, on the ground or lengthwise on a branch, not upright. Owls have a facial disc and a powerful hooked bill. Northern Potoo Nyctibius jamaicensis looks very similar but occurs only in Jamaica and Hispaniola and has a different voice.
Habitat
Open and semi-open forest, forest edges and clearings, gallery forest, swamp forest, savanna with scattered trees and farmland with old trees, posts and dead trunks, mainly in the lowlands. At night it sallies from a lookout after large flying insects such as beetles and moths, returning to the same perch. It lays a single white, purple-spotted egg without a nest in a hollow on top of a broken branch; the incubating bird sits upright on it.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation types of the Caribbean.
Range and movements
Resident in Trinidad and Tobago, widespread in the lowlands and hills. Records from Jamaica and Hispaniola under this name refer to Northern Potoo. Outside the region from southern Central America through almost all of South America, in every country except Chile.
- Resident
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
Best found by listening for the song on clear, moonlit nights and then picking out the bird's shining eyes with a torch. Roosting birds are sometimes known to local guides, as the same post or branch may be used for days on end. A torch is best used sparingly.
Conservation status
Not threatened. The species has a very large range and tolerates semi-open and cultivated land, as long as trees or posts remain.
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. Nyctibius is Greek, from nux, nuktos 'night' and bios 'life': 'night-living', after its nocturnal habits. griseus is Medieval Latin for 'grey', after the grey-brown, bark-like plumage. The specimen the first description was based on came from Cayenne, French Guiana.