Suggesting an owl, to which it is not related, the night-hunting potoo effectively camouflages himself like the branch he perches on. Often, they can be found only through the brilliant eye reflection of a searching flashlight beam.
The Potoo Family Nyctibiidae
Nyctibiidae, the potoo family, is in the order Caprimulgiformes, home also of the potoo's closest relatives, the nightjars. All seven potoo species resemble one another, and all are found within one genus, Nyctibius. All potoos are found within the Western Hemisphere, although, like New World hummingbirds, ancient fossils from France and Germany indicate that ancestral potoos once lived in the Old World.
Although nocturnal, large-eyed potoos suggest owls, they are related, instead, to nightjars and frogmouths. Potoos' eyes, upright perching and cryptic coloration resemble owls, but there are significant differences, as well. Like nightjars, potoos have relatively weak feet and short bills. These bills are broad, however, and open to reveal a large, gaping mouth used to capture flying insects and even small bats or birds. Unlike owls, potoos feed on the wing, generally returning to the same perch, in a manner similar to that of flycatchers.
Potoos often perch at the end of a vertical stump or branch, and, in fact, lay and incubate their single large egg in a similarly precarious spot. Parents share incubation, sitting in an upright position. Incubation takes 30 days or more, and the young are altricial. Potoos are expert at blending into their perch, and birders often are startled to discover that the end of a vertical limb is, in fact, a perching potoo.
Potoos are found from Mexico south, throughout Central America, and all of South America except Chile. They also appear on the Caribbean islands of Jamaica, Hispaniola, Trinidad and Tobago. Most species are found in South America, although two species are found in Mexico. One of the two species in Mexico is relatively easy to find and photograph, the Northern Potoo.
The Northern Potoo
The Northern Potoo (Nyctibius jamaicensis) is found in Mexico, in Central America south to Costa Rica, in the Domiican Republic and Haiti, and, as expected from the species name, in Jamaica. The Northern Potoo's range in Mexico includes both Pacific and Caribbean coasts, as well as the Yucatan peninsula. Its length approaches 18 inches, and its wingspan is up to 40 inches. Coloration is cryptic and camouflaged shades of brown, black and gray. They appear motionless while perched, and when alarmed, they exaggerate their branch impersonation by slowly attenuating their posture until their bill is pointing directly upward. During the day they are nearly impossible to see, but at night their eyes give them away.
Their eyes are large, and the yellow iris glows red in reflected light, sometimes giving the eye an uncanny resemblance to a pimento-stuffed olive. Their call is spooky, harsh and gutteral, dropping off in pitch and volume. The Northern Potoo hunts at twilight and nocturnally from exposed perches, and, feeling confidently camouflaged, will often remain motionless while being approached closely by birders, permitting good opportunities for photography.
Finding the Northern Potoo in Mexico
One of the easiest places to observe and photograph Northern Potoos is on evening boat rides that depart from San Blas, about 100 miles north of Puerto Vallarta on the Pacific Ocean coast. These 'jungle boat trips' are popular with tourists, and follow inland waterways for about two hours to a fresh water spring at La Tovara. Birders should take the late afternoon trip, which departs after 3:00 PM. Great birding is found throughout the trip, but the return from the spring is after dark, when Northern Potoos are easily found with the guide's spotlight.
Perching potoos can be approached quite closely, allowing excellent opportunities to photograph the birds. In addition, the guide's spotlight also attracts moths, which in turn stirs the potoos to leave their perches to feed.
Sources
- Howell, Steve N. G. and Webb, Sophie, (1995), A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0198540124
- Stiles, F. Gary and Skutch, Alexander F., (1989), A Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica, Comstock Publishing Associates, a Division of Cornell University Press, ISBN 0801496004
- Gill, Frank B., (1990, 1995), Ornithology, 2d. ed., W. H. Freeman and Company, ISBN0716724154
Bob Bowers - A lifelong naturalist and amateur ornithologist, Bob's avocation is studying, photographing and writing about birds.
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